“Kevin, we are getting a divorce,” said my mother. My heart plunged (急降). I was 9 years old and I thought that my life was going to _____. My brother and I were going to move with my mother to southern California. My dad was to ____ in New Jersey because of work. My family was splitting apart.
Now that my mom is a single parent, I do my own _____, make dinner and do extra chores around the house. ____ it was hard at first, I now recognize the positive ____ that this responsibility had on me. My mother gave me these ____ and duties so that I would learn to become self-disciplined (自律的) and trustworthy.
I strive to display these ___ in all aspects of my life, and have seen the benefits. When I was only 11 years old, my ____ told me that he was selecting me as soccer team captain because of my determination and ability to get my teammates to ____ themselves. We ____the championship, but I won the fair play award for keeping my team together.
I am always determined to be an individual and not participate in anything that I feel is _____. I am, for example, extremely _____ of my decision not to drink alcohol. Personally, I don’t feel the need to drink to have fun, and I stand by my decision even when others try to _____ me.
My mom and dad both found new ____ and happily remarried. I am _____ close to my father, even though he lives 4,800 km away. I thought my parents’ divorce was going to be the worst thing that _____ happened to me. Ironically (讽刺的是), it turned out to be the ____. I wasn’t willing to let it _____ my life without putting up a fight, and neither was my family.
At age 9, I struggled with the confusion and ____ of divorce. Today, at age 16, I understand that _____ can bring opportunity and success, and that hard work, determination and self-discipline can turn your worst time into your best time.:
1. A. fall apart B. stand out C. carry on D. come true
2.A. abandon B. remain C. accompany D. practice
3.A. homework B. exercise C. decision D. laundry
4.A. Although B. Because C. If D. Since
5.A. attitude B. experience C. effect D. situation
6.A. achievements B. abilities C. chores D. disadvantages
7.A. chores B. difficulties C. emotions D. qualities
8.A. father B. headmaster C. brother D. coach
9.A. enjoy B. teach C. help D. push
10.A. won B. lost C. had D. achieved
11.A. wrong B. abnormal C. dynamic D. violent
12.A. afraid B. tired C. proud D. fond
13.A. cheat B. pressure C. please D. enlighten
14.A. families B. jobs C. kids D. partners
15.A. still B. not C. rarely D. less
16.A. never B. even C. ever D. almost
17.A. best B. worst C. busiest D. first
18.A. challenge B. protect C. beat D. ruin
19.A. pain B. memory C. significance D. emergency
20.A. obstacles B. families C. parents D. Routines
If you are in a crowd, the first and most important thing is to make yourself familiar with your surroundings and mentally notice alternate exits.__ 1.____
Make yourself aware of the type of ground you are standing on, and know that in a crowd of moving people wet or uneven ground can be slippery or hazardous, causing you to fall.
__2.___ When in danger, a few seconds can make all the difference, giving you the possibility of taking advantage of escaping route. Always stay closer to the escape route.
If you find yourself in the middle of a moving crowd, do not fight against the pressure, do not stand still or sit down, because you could easily get trampled.___ 3._____
Take advantage of any space that may open up to move sideways to the crowd movement where the flow is weaker.
Keep your hands up by your chest, like a boxer—it gives you movement and protects your chest.___ 4.____ If you cannot get up because you are injured, get someone to pull you back up. If you have kids, lift them up.
If you fall and cannot get up, keep moving by crawling in the same direction of the crowd, or if that is not possible, then cover your head with your arms and curl up into fetal position.___ 5.____
A. No matter where you are, make sure you always know how to get out.
B. If you fall, get up quickly.
C. Do not lie on your stomach or back, as this dangerously exposes your lungs.
D. The worst is to be pushed by the crowd against an immovable object
E. There is always space between people.
F. Be aware of the general atmosphere of the event, as panic situations can often be expected.
G. Instead, move in the same direction of the crowd.
In 1977, Irene Pepperberg of Harvard University began studying what was on another creature’s mind by talking to it. Her first experiments began with Alex. Alex was a one-year-old African grey parrot and Irene taught him to produce the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”
At the time, most scientists didn’t believe animals had any thoughts. They thought animals were more like robots but didn’t have the ability to think or feel. Of course, if you own a pet, you probably disagree. But it is the job of a scientist to prove this and nowadays more scientists accept that animals can think for themselves.
“That’s why I started my studies with Alex,” Irene said, “Some people actually called me crazy for trying this.”
Nowadays, we have more and more evidence that animals have all sorts of mental abilities. Sheep can recognize faces. Chimpanzees (黑猩猩) use a variety of tools and even use weapons to hunt. And Alex, the parrot became a very good talker.
Thirty years after, the Alex studies began. Irene was still giving him English lessons until his recent death. For example, if Alex was hungry, he could say “want grape”. Alex could count to six and was learning the sounds for seven and eight. “He has to hear the words over and over before he can correctly say them.” Irene said, after pronouncing “seven” for Alex a few times in a row. Alex could also tell the difference between colors, shapes, sizes, and materials (e.g.wood and metal). Before he finally died, Alex managed to say “seven”.
Another famous pet that proved some animals have greater mental skills was a dog called Rico. He appeared on a German TV game show in 2011. Rico knew the names of 200 different toys and easily learned the names of new ones. When Rico became famous, many other dog owners wanted to show how clever their pets were. Another dog called Betsy could understand 300 words.
One theory for dogs’ ability to learn a language is that they have been close companions to humans for many centuries and so their ability to understand us is constantly evolving (进化). While animals can’t do what humans do yet, some scientists believe that examples like Alex and Rico prove that evolution develops intelligence, as well as physical appearance.
1. Irene wanted to find out __________.
A.what a parrot thinks B.why a parrot can speak
C.how parrots make sounds D.if parrots speak English
2.Alex learnt new words by __________.
A.singing them B.reading them
C.writing them D.rehearing them
3.The two dogs mentioned in the article could _______.
A.understand some words
B.recognize strange voices
C.copy human gestures
D.tell different colors
4. The article concludes that ___________.
A.our pets understand what we say
B.dogs may speak to humans one day
C.humans are related to chimpanzees
D.mental ability can evolve in animals
Elizabeth Mitchell’s new “Liberty’s Torch” is the fascinating story of how the Statue of Liberty came to be. The Statue of Liberty’s rough history is explored in “Liberty’s Torch”.
Frederic Auguste Bartholdi is an all-but-forgotten figure in American history. He was, however, responsible for one of the most enduring symbols of the United States: the Statue of Liberty. A Frenchman from Alsace, he designed and built the Statue of Liberty which stood on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor. How this statue came to be is the fascinating subject of Elizabeth Michell’s new book “Liberty’s Torch”.
The power of Mitchell’s narrative is convincing(令人信服的). We recognize the Statue of Liberty now as a symbol of hope and opportunity for a nation of immigrants. At the time, though, people could not see that－nor did they even imagine that. Instead, the construction of the statue was born of one man’s desire to set up a great monument.
For this reason, perhaps, “Liberty’s Torch” relies on Bartholdi as the connecting thread. Bartholdi went to Egypt to make photographic copies of the main monuments. On the boat, Bartholdi met and began a lifelong relationship with Ferdinand de Lesseps, the man who would build the Suez Canal. Maybe it was this friendship, or maybe it was seeing Egypt’s huge monuments, but finally the trip inspired Bartholdi’s dream to create the largest statue ever built. Failure to bring this to completion in Egypt, followed by his exile (流放) from Paris, led Bartholdi to sail to America.
By explaining the Statue of Liberty’s hard history and showing Bartholdi’s brave spirit, Mitchell has done a great service.
1.It can be inferred from the text that ________.
A. American people have never forgotten Frederic August Bartholdi
B. the Statue of Liberty wasn’t originally regarded as a symbol of hope
C. Bartholdi finished the Suez Canal
D. Bartholdi was a famous architect from Egypt.
2.What was the main reason for Bartholdi to build the Statue of Liberty?
A. To finish his education in the arts.
B. To mark his friendship with Ferdinand.
C. To create something better than Egyptian monuments.
D. To achieve his dream to create the largest statue.
3.What type of writing is the passage?
A. A travel guide. B. A book review
C. An announcement D. An architecture report.
Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.
The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.
I see people trapped in a pathological（病态的）relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.
What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for proclaiming(声明) the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.” But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.
Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.” To break the grand digital connection, people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.
1. The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.
A. advantage B. attraction
C. adaption D. attempt
2. From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.
A. attract people to buy their products
B. provide the latest information
C. improve people’s quality of life
D. deal with cultural diseases
3. It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.
A. consider too much technology wonderful
B. have realized the harm of high-tech devices
C. can regain freedom without high-tech devices
D. may enjoy life better without overused technology
4. What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?
A. Neutral. B. Sceptical.
C. Disapproving. D. Sympathetic.
Hello. I’m Jan from Mrs. Lake’s class. My class wants to work together to help the public. We think we have found a great way to do this. Last month we did a class project on the highways near our town. We learned about the Adopt-a-Highway Program. This program brings people together to pick up litter along the roads. We think it would be a great idea for all students in our school to join the program and adopt a highway.
Adopting a highway is not like adopting a pet. When a highway is adopted, only part of the highway is cared for by a group of people. The group agrees to work every week to keep its part of the highway clean. Each group gets its own sign that has the name of the group printed on it. The sign is put up at the side of the road. This sign lets drivers know who is keeping that area of the road clean.
The Adopt-a-Highway Program is a great way for people to help their environment look nicer. Also, the government does not have to send out as many road workers. This saves money. Finally, people may try harder to keep roads clean if they see people, especially teenagers like us, cleaning them up.
We will need helpers to care for our adopted highway. If you want to feel great and keep our roads clean，please come with your parents to the meeting next week. We will meet in Mrs. Lake’ room on Wednesday at 6:00 P.M. At the meeting, we will talk about which roads are the dirtiest as a result of people's unkind acts. Then we' ll try to pick an area to adopt and clean.
I look forward to seeing you at the meeting. Remember to keep our roads clean!
1.What is the Adopt-a-Highway Program about?
A. Giving names to the highways.
B. Drawing pictures of highways.
C. Picking up litter along the roads.
D. Putting up signs near the roads.
2.What should the students do first if they want to join the program?
A. Pick a spot to care for.
B. Call Mrs. Lake next week.
C. Write a letter to their parents.
D. Go to a meeting on Wednesday.
3.What is the purpose of this speech?
A. To encourage students to join the program.
B. To introduce the traffic system.
C. To show drivers how to drive safely.
D. To tell a story about adopting a pet.
4.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A. Adopt-a-Pet
B. Adopt-a-Highway
C. Ways to Protect the Environment
D. Volunteers on Roads
