New York, the city that never sleeps, fell silent last week—schools were closed; bus and subway services were stopped; flights were canceled, and even the stock market closed for the first time since 1985. All the disorder was caused by one thing, the arrival of hurricane Sandy.
This big storm landed on Oct 29 on the US east coast and brought damaging winds, flooding, blackouts (停电) and heavy snow.
Sandy is one of the largest storms that have ever hit the US, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. By the afternoon of Nov1 (Beijing time), about 140 deaths were caused by the storm as it traveled across the Caribbean islands and into the US.
Unlike most hurricanes that happen during summer, Sandy was strengthened not only by warm ocean water, but also by the cold air coming from the northwest. Sandy’s power grew because of the difference in masses between the warm and wet air and cool and dry air. It became a kind of “super-storm”, the Guardian reported.
The flooding was particularly severe. Scientists said it was because Sandy’s arrival happened together with a full moon, which normally means higher-than-usual tides (潮水).
“The most worrying aspect of Sandy is the high tides,” Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee told Reuters before the storm arrived. “With the full moon on Monday, with Sandy coming up the bay, we’re very concerned about flooding in our low-lying coastal areas.”
Apart from the power of Sandy itself, another reason why her arrival has caused so much damage is that its target area is crowded with big cities such as New York and Philadelphia. These urban areas are home to tens of millions of people. The flood, the snow and the blackout have brought the country’s financial and political centers to a stop.
“The size of this alone, affecting a heavily populated area, is history making.” Said Jeff Masters, a hurricane specialist.
1.The author mentioned the disorder in New York city at the beginning of the article to _______.
A．remind us of the problems people might face when disaster strikes
B．introduce the disastrous influence of hurricane Sandy
C．criticize the poor management of the city by the New York government
D．prove New York suffered most from hurricane Sandy
2.According to the text, hurricane Sandy _______.
A．only got its power from the warm ocean water
B．grew stronger than other hurricanes because of the full moon
C．led to flooding in many cities around the US
D．brought with it strong winds, high tides, blackouts and heavy snowfall
3.From the article, we learn that areas hurricane Sandy targeted _______.
A．were mostly high land
B．were mostly near the sea
C．were far away from important cities
D．were empty as people were evacuated (疏散)
4.What is the main point of the article?
A．To show how a super-storm comes into being.
B．To explain why hurricane Sandy was so destructive.
C．To show that big cities in the US are easily affected by huge hurricanes.
D．To explore the best ways to avoid loss when a hurricane hits.
Creating a Green Campus. You should write at least 120 words following the outline given below:
1. 建设绿色校园很重要；
2. 绿色校园不仅指绿色的环境，还包括校园师生保护环境的文化素养……；
3. 为了建设绿色校园，我们应该……
阅读下列各小题，根据括号内的汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子。
1.Don’t be too rude to your father. Never in his life _______________ in that way up to now. （speak）
不要对你的父亲那么粗鲁，到目前为止还没有人像那样对他说话。
2.When his mother came home from work, he was lying on the sofa, ____________. (absorb)
母亲下班回家的时候，他正躺在沙发上专心致志地看书。
3.________________ different languages and cultures does a lot of good to children. (expose)
接触不同的语言和文化对孩子们大有裨益
4.I think that it is I rather than my sister _______________ for what happened. (blame)
我认为出了事不能怪姐姐而应该怪我。
5.Although house construction _________________, you can find many diverse styles in each country. (vary)
每个国家的建筑结构都不尽相同,然而在每个国家你能发现各式各样的风格。
6.With ____________, the problem that they had worked on for a long time was eventually worked out. (adopt)
由于采取了新方法，他们钻研了很长时间的问题终于解决了。
7.If he hadn’t hesitated for a moment before kicking the ball, he ______ a goal. (score)
要是他在射门前不迟疑，他就进了一球。
8.Have you ever had a case____________ getting the wrong end of the stick? (accuse)
你们有没有这样的情况：别人控告他们说他们的报道完全失真？
9._________________ is that while I am concentrating on my study, my classmates make so much noise. (put)
我不能忍受的是在我全神贯注地学习时，我的同学那么吵闹。
10._____________to you whether I like it or not, because you never listen to me. (difference)
我喜不喜欢对你来说没什么差别，因为你从来就不听我的。
What Is a Boy?
Between the innocence of babyhood and the seriousness of manhood we find a delightful creature called a “boy”. Boys come in different sizes, weights, and colors, but all boys have the same belief: to enjoy every second of every minute of every hour of every day and to fill the air with noise until the adult males pack them off to bed at night.
Boys are found everywhere –on top of, under, inside of, climbing on, swinging from, running around, or jumping to. Mothers spoil them, little girls hate them, older sisters and brothers love them, and God protects them. A boy is TRUTH with dirt on its face, BEAUTY with a cut on its finger, WISDOM with chocalate in its hair, and the HOPE of the future with a snake in its pocket.
When you are busy, a boy is a trouble maker and a noise. When you want him to make a good impression, his brain turns to jelly or else he becomes a wild creature bent on destroying the world and himself with it.
A boy is a mixture – he has the stomach of a horse, the digestion (消化力) of stones and sand, the energy of an atomic bomb, the curiosity of a cat, the imagination of a superman, the shyness of a sweet girl, the brave nature of a bull, the violence of a firecracker, but when you ask him to make something, he has five thumbs (拇指) on each hand.
He likes ice cream, knives, saws, Christmas, comic books, woods, water (in its natural habitat), large animals, Dad, trains, Saturday mornings, and fire engines. He is not much for Sunday schools, company, schools, books without pictures, music lessons, neckties, barbers, girls, overcoats, adults, or bedtime.
Nobody else is so early to rise, or so late to supper. Nobody else gets so much fun out of trees, dogs, and breezes. Nobody else can put into one pocket a rusty knife, a half eaten apple, a three-feet rope, six cents and some unknown things.
A boy is a magical creature – he is your headache but when you come home at night with only shattered pieces of your hopes and dreams, he can mend them like new with two magic words, “Hi, Dad!”
1.The whole passage is in a tone(调子) of _________.
A．humor and love B．respect and harmony
C．ambition and expectation D．confidence and imagination
2.The underlined sentence “he has five thumbs on each hand” probably means______.
A．he has altogether five fingers B．he is slow, foolish and clumsy
C．he becomes clever and smart D．he cuts his hand with a knife
3.According to the writer, boys appreciate everything in the following except ________.
A．ice cream B．comic books C．Saturday mornings D．Sunday schools
4.What does the writer feel about boys?
A．He feels curious about their noise. B．He is fed up with these creatures.
C．He is amazed by their naughtiness. D．He feels unsafe staying with them.
It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.
My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.
On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背)in the distance.
On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it—there aren’t any whale along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.
The little baby whale actually as big as our boat was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡)and waves. “She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.
In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.
1.The author says “I’m so glad I did.”(in Para.2)because_______.
A．he witnessed the whole process of fishing
B．he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea
C．he experienced the rescue of the whales
D．he spent the weekend with his family
2.The harbour survived the storm owing to ______.
A．the shape of the harbor B．the arms of one bay
C．the still water in the channel D．the long coast line
3.The mother whale failed to help her baby because _______.
A．she had stayed in the polluted water for too long
B．the whirlpools she had made were not big enough
C．she had no other whales around to turn for help
D．the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction
4.What is the theme of the story?
A．Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness.
B．Fishing provides excitement for children.
C．It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals.
D．It’s vital to protect the environment.
Everyone has good days and bad days.
Sometimes, you feel as if you’re on top of the world and all the questions on your maths test might seem easy. But occasionally you feel horrible, and you lose things and cannot focus on our schoolwork.
For more than 20 years, scientists have suggested that high self-esteem(自尊) is the key to success.Now, new research shows that focusing just on building self-esteem may not be helpful. In some cases, having high self-esteem can make people less likeable or more upset when they fail in something.
“Forget about self-esteem,” says Jennifer Crocker, a psychologist at the University of Michigan, US. “It’s not the important thing.”
Feeling good
Crocker’s advice may sound a bit strange. After all, feeling good can be good for you.Studies show that people with high self-esteem are less likely to be depressed, anxious, shy, or lonely than those with low self-esteem.
However, after reviewing about 18,000 studies on self-esteem, Roy Baumeister, a psychologist at Florida State University, has found that building up your self-esteem will not necessarily make you a better person.
He believes that violent people often have the highest self-esteem of all. He also said:“ There’s no evidence that kids with high self-esteem do better in school.”
Problems
All types of people have problems. People with high self-esteem can have big egos(自我) that can make them less likeable, said Kathleen Vohs, a psychology professor at Columbia University.People with high self-esteem tend to think more of themselves, VOhs says. People with low self-esteem are more likely to rely on their friends when they need help.
What to do
Researchers say it is best to listen to and support other people. Find positive ways to contribute to society. If you fail in something, try to learn from the experience. “The best therapy(药方) is to recognize your faults,” Vohs says. “It’s OK to say, ‘I’ m not so good at that,’ and then move on.”
1.What does the underlined part “on top of the world” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A．Quite helpful. B．Extremely happy. C．Very unlucky. D．Rather upset.
2.The conclusion drawn from the new research shows that high self-esteem_____.
A．is not important at all B．makes people more likeable
C．may not be the key to success D．helps you do better at school
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to Vohs?
A．Feeling good doesn’t mean you lead a happy life.
B．People with high self-esteem always seek others’ help.
C．People with high self-esteem tend to be selfish.
D．People with low self-esteem are often more popular.
4.We can infer from the text that the best therapy mentioned in the last paragraph is mainly for people_____.
A．with high self-esteem B．with low self-esteem
C．who contribute significantly to society D．who are in need of support
