Today, the world’s diversity(多样性) of food crops is quickly decreasing. But scientists around the world are taking action. They are building seed banks. At seed banks, scientists store the seeds of many different crops.
There are now 1,400 seed banks around the world. However, some banks are in warm countries. If the electricity fails, the seeds will get too hot and die. Other seed banks are in countries troubled by war. Sometimes people damage the seed banks. If this happens, valuable seeds can be lost forever!
The organization Global Crop Diversity Trust decided they wanted to deal with this problem. So, they decided to build a global seed bank. This seed bank would contain a back-up, or extra copy, of all the world’s seeds. Smaller seed banks would still collect and keep local seeds. But they would also send copies of their seeds to the global bank.
Scientists from the Global Crop Diversity Trust chose the cold, snowy mountains of Svalbard, Norway to build the global seed bank — the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Organizations, farmers, or local seed banks store their extra seeds there. And the people who place their seeds in the vault are the only people who can take them out. They pay to ship their seeds to Norway, but it does not cost them any money to store their seeds. The Global Crop Diversity Trust pays for this.
Cary Fowler is a scientist who heads the Global Crop Diversity Trust. He said, “If the Seed Vault simply supplies seed banks with copies of seeds that those banks lost by accident, the Seed Vault will be worth way more than it cost.”
1.Seed banks are built to ________.
A.research on seeds B.produce new seeds
C.protect crop diversity D.increase the number of seeds
2.What is the author's purpose in Paragraph 2?
A.Scientists store the seeds of many different crops at seed banks.
B.If seed banks are destroyed, valuable seeds will be lost forever.
C.Scientists want to build a global seed bank.
D.The people who place their seeds in the vault are the only people who can take them out.
3.Compared with other seed banks, the global seed bank ________.
A.was built by the government B.is more welcomed by farmers
C.is mainly used by great scientists D.can provide a good environment for seeds
4.What can we learn about the Svalbard Global Seed Vault?
A.It helps to pay the shipping cost. B.No one can take seeds out of there.
C.There are no fees to store seeds there. D.It mainly receives seeds from farmers.
5.What is Cary Fowler’s attitude towards the Seed Vault?
A.He feels it is very important. B.He is surprised at it.
C.He thinks it costs too much. D.He is uncertain about it.
The traditional Chinese lunar calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms. Grain Rain(谷雨)，as the last term in spring, starts on April 19 and ends on May 4.
Grain Rain comes from the old saying, “Rain brings the growth of hundreds of grains”, which shows that this period of rainfall is very important for the growth of crops. Here’s something that you may not know about the Grain Rain.
1. Grain Rain falls between the end of spring and the beginning of summer, and the temperature rises much higher than it does in March. With dry soil and heavy winds, sandstorms may happen more often. |
2. There is an old custom in southern China that people drink tea on the day of Grain Rain. Spring tea during Grain Rain is good for the eyes. It is also said that drinking tea on this day would prevent bad luck. |
3. People in northern China have the tradition to eat the vegetable toona sinensis during Grain Rain. An old Chinese saying goes “toona sinensis before the rain is as tender as silk”. The vegetable is good for the stomach and skin. |
4. The Grain Rain Festival is celebrated by fishing villages in northern China. Grain Rain marks the start of the fishermen's first voyage of the year. The custom dates back to more than 2,000 years ago. |
1.When Grain Rain ends, ________ starts.
A.summer B.spring C.fall D.winter
2.The underlined word “crops” refers to ________.
A.flowers in the garden B.trees in the forest
C.fishes in the sea D.plants in the field
3.The people in southern China ________ on the day of Grain Rain.
A.eat toona sinensis B.fly a kite C.drink tea D.start the first voyage
4.We can infer that “toona sinensis” must be a kind of vegetable which ________.
A.can bring good luck B.is delicious and healthy
C.grows at the seaside D.is a type of medicine
5.The right order of the titles from 1 to 4 should be________.
a. Eating toona sinensis b. Sandstorms happen c. Grain Rain Festival d. Drinking tea
A.b-d-c-a B.b-a-d-c C.b-c-a-d D.b-d-a-c
“We're going to cut science class today. I know you want to come with us. Let’s go!”
Maybe you’ve ______one of the popular kids at school say something like this. So what do you do? Do you just give in and do what the other kids ______, or do you go to class no matter what they say?
Situations like this often come up. And it is not easy to make your own______ when your friends want to do something you’re not quite sure about. Sometimes, you feel you should do something because everyone else is doing it, and it is______to go against the majority. This is called “peer(同龄人) pressure” because peers are pressuring you to do what they want.
Some people give in to peer pressure because they want to be more popular. Some worry that others will make fun of them ______they don’t go along with the group. The ______that “everyone is doing it” makes them follow the crowd. Sometimes peer pressure can be _______if your peers encourage you to be a better person. But most peer pressure pushes you to do something you don’t really want to do. And it affects almost everyone without exception. So what can you do to______it?
First of all, you should follow your own feelings and beliefs and be self-confident. When you are self-confident, you can say “no” to the people ______to pressure you. It also helps to have a good friend who respects your beliefs. That way you won’t be ______when you stand up to peer pressure.
1.A.made B.helped C.felt D.heard
2.A.complete B.control C.suggest D.avoid
3.A.friends B.rules C.search D.decision
4.A.slow B.hard C.clear D.useful
5.A.unless B.until C.if D.although
6.A.doubt B.idea C.hope D.promise
7.A.good B.common C.serious D.strong
8.A.affect B.show C.deal with D.talk about
9.A.failing B.trying C.learning D.refusing
10.A.alone B.lucky C.quiet D.popular
一场疫情悄然改变着我们的生活习惯。假定你是李华，你的英国笔友Mike想了解你们目前的用餐情况及你的看法，请你写一封电子邮件回复他。
提示词：公筷 serving/public chopsticks；病毒 viruses；减少传染 reduce infections; safe
要求：
（1）内容应包含所给提示词：
（2）内容应包括餐前、餐中、餐后的情况介绍及你的看法；
（3）文中不得出现真实的人名和校名；词数80~100。 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Mike,
How’s everything going? I’d like to tell you our lives have changed a lot because of the COVID-19. For dining habits,______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Look forward to hearing from you!
Yours,
Li Hua
我们珍惜日常生活中与家人和朋友在一起的时光。（everyday）
We value the time we spend with our family and friends__________________.
观看沏茶和喝茶一样令人享受。（enjoyable）
Watching the tea preparation is just __________________ drinking the tea itself.
