The island of Port Cros is in the south of France. I first visited it about ten years ago with my wife. I had read that it was a magical place and it seemed fascinating (迷人的), but I couldn’t believe that it was true. In fact, it was much more magical than the tourist brochures (指南) had said.
The island is mountainous and covered in trees. The water around the island is transparent like glass. When I first visited it, there was mist rising from the trees. The little harbor looked mysterious and remote: tall palm trees, a few shops and restaurants, no cars, motorcycles or bikes.
It is not by chance that the island has kept its natural beauty. Once, it was privately owned and the owners always wanted to keep it in its natural state. In 1963, Port Cros became a national park. The park directors made some rules to protect the island. They didn’t allow any new building projects. There is only one hotel and no camping is allowed. Visitors can’t use mountain bikes or smoke on the island. Sailing boats that visit the island mustn’t damage the bottom of the sea or pollute the water around it.
When we arrived, we started walking to the beach of Port-Man, which was the furthest beach from the port. It took us two hours and when we arrived, the beach was deserted. It seemed that we were the only people on the island. Time seemed to stop. It was so beautiful that we stayed there all day. I visited there again last summer. Nothing had changed. The island still looked magical and mysterious, still with few tourists. It must be wonderful to stay the night on the island, I thought. After all the visitors have gone, the island must be so quiet—a real paradise (天堂)!
1.The author got to know Port Cros at first due to _____.
A. some tourist brochures
B. his wife’s introduction
C. his first visit there
D. some TV programs
2.How has the natural beauty of the island been kept according to the text?
A. Foreign visitors are not allowed to visit it.
B. Nothing has been built in the park there.
C. Only bikes can be used on the island.
D. Sailing boats mustn’t pollute the water.
3.When the author first visited Port Cros, _____.
A. it was very sunny
B. there were few visitors there
C. it took them a whole day to walk to Port-Man
D. the island was deserted and he stayed there for a whole night
If you have a bad habit of losing things, a new device that can be connected to any item that you might lose may be the way to solve your problem. The Tile, a small square linked up to your iPhone or iPad via Bluetooth, lets you see how close you are to the missing item, within a 50-to 150-foot range . If the item goes out of your phone’s 150-foot range, it can still be detected (发现) on other smartphones with the same app.
When you log into the app on your phone, it shows you, with green bars that increase or decrease, how far away you are from the Tile. You can also program it to make a sound when you get close to the Tile. And you can link up your phone with up to ten Tiles. And if your lost item — a dog, for example, or a stolen bike — goes out of your own phone’s 150-foot Bluetooth range, you can set it as a “lost item”. If any of the phones with the Tile app comes within the range of your lost item, a message will be sent to your own phone, reminding you of its position. The Tile app also has the function to remember where it last saw your Tile, so that you can easily find where you left it.
Since the Tiles use Bluetooth rather than GPS, they never run out of battery or need to be charged, and they last for one year before needing to be replaced. The app, which will come into the market this winter, works with iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, iPad Mini, iPad 3rd and 4th generation, and iPod 5th generation.
1.The Tile app can help you .
A. find your missing items
B. use your phone more wisely
C. save your phone’s battery power
D. connect something to your phone
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The Tile needs to be charged after a year of use.
B. One smartphone can only be linked up to one Tile.
C. The Tile cannot work when linked up to a phone without Bluetooth.
D. A missing item can’t be found if it goes out of the needed range.
3.What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?
A. What the Tile app is.
B. How the Tile app works.
C. The advantages of the Tile app.
D. Why the Tile app was invented.
4.Where does this passage probably come from?
A. A science fiction novel.
B. An advertisement.
C. A personal diary.
D. A news report.
假设你是红星中学高三学生李华。上个周末，为了给校的外籍学生营造学习中国文化的
氛围，你们班布置了一间“中国小屋”，做为他们日常学习和活动的教室。请根据以下四幅
图的先后顺序，介绍这一过程，并向校刊“英语园地”投稿。
注意：词数不少于60。
提示词：中国小屋 Chamber of China
假设你是红星中学高三学生李华，请给你的外教Jim 写一封邮件，告诉他你打算参加 “彩色跑”，希望他一起参加。邮件的内容包括：
1.介绍“彩色跑”的相关内容（例如：时间、地点、参加者等）；
2.说明你打算参加的原因；
3.询问对方的意向。
注意：1.词数不少于50；
2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
提示词：彩色跑 The Color Run
Dear Jim,
Yours,
Li Hua
根据短文内容,从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Attraction of the Minions
When it comes to film, people usually favor good over evil, focus on the hero and ignore the supporting characters. __1.__
Originally comedic background characters in the film Despicable Me（卑鄙的我）, these yellow pill-shaped nuts, have totally stolen the show and turned into a popular figure.
This summer the characters debuted（首演） in their own self-titled movie in theaters abroad, having the second biggest opening weekend of all time for a cartoon film according to USA Today. Recently, McDonald’s has been including Minion toys with kids’ meals in some areas, causing loyal fans to flock to the restaurant to collect them all. _2.__
The movie’s huge popularity even surprised its writers. “We never knew the Minions were going to be so popular. It just became a force of nature,” the film’s co-writer Cinco Paul told the Los Angeles Times.
__3.__For many, the appeal is obviously their cuteness. Their simple nature can easily surpass cultures and age groups. Even children can draw them. Thousands of examples of fan-made Minion art from fingernails to Halloween clothes are visible on global social media platforms.
But there’s more to the phenomenon than just cuteness. US entertainment website Hit Fix explains that their way of communicating makes the creatures influential as well. __4.__ But it seems everyone can understand them through their exaggerated（夸张的） movements and expressions.
More importantly, their childlike mannerisms is a brand of humor that wins hearts. “Clumsy, foolish Minions are recognized as the ultimate β personalities,” wrote Peter Debruge of US entertainment magazine Variety.
They desire nothing more than to serve their most despicable master. __5.__ "Perhaps we love Minions because they remind us of ourselves," Huffington Post associate Web editor Sara Boboltz wrote, "or an evil version of ourselves."
A. So what makes the banana-loving Minions a big hit?
B. Besides, their childlike manner entertains fans more.
C. And this evil characteristic arouses sympathy among humans.
D. Related video games, toys and other goods are sweeping the world.
E. Minions is a 2015 American 3D computer-animated family comedy film.
F. But when it comes to the Minions, these conventions go right out the window.
G. The largely speak in nonsense words with the occasional recognizable terms like “potato”.
Speed-reading is a necessary skill in the Internet age．We skim over articles, e-mails and WeChat to try to grasp key words and the essential meaning of a certain text．Surrounded with information from our electronic devices, it would be impossible to cope if we read word by word, line by line．But a new trend calls on people to unplug and enjoy reading slowly, listing benefits beyond the intelligent stimulation．
A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a cafe and turn off their smartphones．They sink into cozy chairs and read in silence for an hour． Unlike traditional book clubs, the point of the slow reading club isn't exchanging ideas about a certain book, but to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, relaxed environment． According to the Journal, the Wellington book club is just one example of a movement started by book lovers who miss the old-fashioned way of reading before the Internet and smartphones．
Slow readers, such as The Atlantic's Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, reduces stress levels and deepens the ability to sympathize． Another study published last year in Science showed that reading novels helps people understand other's mental states and beliefs, a fundamental skill in building relationships．
Yet technology has made us less attentive readers． Screens have changed our reading patterns from the straight and information．left-to-right sequence to a wild skimming and skipping pattern as we hunt for important words and information. Reading text punctuated with links leads to weaker comprehension than reading plain text. The Internet may have made us stupider, says Patrick Kingsley from The Guardian． Because of the Internet, he says, we have become very good at collecting a wide range of interesting news, but we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, reflect, and relate all these facts to each other．
Slow reading means a return to an uninterrupted, straight pattern, in a quiet environment free of distractions． Aim for 30 minutes a day, advises Kelly from The Atlantic． “You can squeeze in that half hour pretty easily if only during your free moments, you pick up a meaningful work of literature,” Kelly said． “Reach for your e-reader, if you like． Kindles make books like War and Peace less heavy, not less substantive, and also ensure you'll never lose your place．”
1.The book club in Wellington mentioned in Paragraph 2 shows____________．
A．the new trend of slow reading
B．the decline of electronic devices
C．the importance of exchanging ideas
D．the increasing number of club readers
2.According to Patrick Kingsley, people are stupider partly because of_____________．
A．a non-stop reading pattern
B．the straight, left-to-right screen
C．a wide range of interesting news
D．the lack of reflection
3.According to the passage, slow reading___________．
A．contributes to understanding among people
B．promotes the current technology advances
C．provides people with a quiet environment
D．cures the memory loss of elderly people
4.What's the best title for the passage?
A．Benefit of Reading Clubs．
B．Return of Slow Reading．
C．Reading of the Internet Age．
D．Influence of Speed Reading．
