A new pollen (花粉) study showed that drought was responsible for the extinction of civilizations more than 3,000 years ago during the Bronze Age.
The reason behind why the civilizations in and around modern-day Israel suddenly broke down more than 3,000 years ago has remained a mystery up until now. A new pollen study by Tel Aviv University researchers finally solved this Bronze Age mystery.
Prof. Israel Finkelstein showed that owing to serious climate changes, the entire world of the Bronze Age crumbled in a short period of time. The discovery was made on the basis of a high-resolution analysis of pollen grains taken from sediments (沉淀物) beneath the Sea of Galilee and the western shore of the Dead Sea.
Prof. Finkelstein received support from the European Research Council to conduct research aimed at reconstructing ancient Israel. Researchers of the part of the project that dealt with climate change extracted (提取) about 60 feet of samples of gray muddy sediment from the center of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. They had to drill through 1,000 feet of water and into 65 feet of the lake bed and were able to recover evidence dating over the past 9,000 years.
“Pollen is the most enduring organic material in nature,” explained Dr. Dafna Langgut, a pollen researcher who carried out the actual work of sampling. “These grains tell us about the plants that grew near the lake in the past and therefore prove the climatic conditions in the region.”
Researchers noted a sharp decrease in Mediterranean trees like oaks and pines in the Late Bronze Age. According to study experts, this could be because of repeated periods of drought. The droughts may have resulted in long famines, forcing people to migrate from north to south.
1.The underlined word “crumbled” in Paragraph 3 means _____.
A. settled B. changed
C. established D. disappeared
2.Prof. Finkelstein conducted the new pollen study to _____.
A. earn some money
B. recreate ancient Israel
C. learn more about local plants
D. discover the ancient civilizations
3.By conducting the study, scientists found _____.
A. Mediterranean trees were rare in the Early Bronze Age
B. climate change was to blame for the lost civilization
C. people in the Late Bronze Age starved to death
D. droughts were rare during the Bronze Age
4.The text is most probably taken from _____.
A. a travel magazine B. a history textbook
C. a newspaper report D. an agricultural book
Gabriela Mistral was born on April 6, 1889, at Vicuña, a small town in northern Chile. Her parents were schoolteachers, but her father abandoned the family when she was 3. Taught by her mother, she began instructing in 1904, achieving success in many high schools. In 1909, her first love died. Shortly afterward her second love married someone else. In 1922 the Mexican minister of education, José Vasconcelos, invited her to assist in his reform program, and the peak of this career came the following year, when she was awarded the Chilean title “Teacher of the Nation”. In 1925 she retired but remained active.
Gabriela Mistral devoted much time to diplomatic (外交的) activity, serving as honorary consul (名誉领事) in Madrid, Lisbon, Nice, and Los Angeles. She also served as a representative to the United Nations. In fulfillment of these responsibilities, she visited nearly every major country in Europe and Latin America. She also continued her early literary pursuits.
In 1922 Gabriela Mistral’s first book, Desolation, a collection of poems previously published in newspapers and magazines, was released through the efforts of Federico de Onís, Director of the Hispanic Institute of New York. It reflected personal sorrow.
Two years later her second book, Tenderness, appeared; it contained some of the poems from Desolation and several new ones. Fourteen years passed before the next, Felling, appeared. It was much happier in tone.
Her last book, Wine Press, in 1954, dealt with most of the subjects previously treated but in a different manner. The winning of the Nobel Prize for literature in 1945 did not assuage (减轻) the loss of her nephew. Furthermore, by 1944 she had developed diabetes (糖尿病).
Gabriela Mistral went to the United States for medical aid in 1946, living in various places and, after her appointment to the United Nations, moving to Long Island. It was there that she died of cancer on Jan. 10, 1957.
1.According to Paragraph 1, Gabriela Mistral _____.
A. had a short happy marriage B. was born in a poor family
C. was a devoted teacher D. had a beloved father
2. The second paragraph is mainly about Gabriela Mistral’s _____.
A. retired life B. achievements
C. works of literature D. diplomatic activity
3. The theme of Gabriela Mistral’s early works is _____.
A. death B. happiness
C. teaching life D. personal suffering
4.Which of the following is the correct order to describe Gabriela Mistral’s life according to the text?
a. She retired.
b. She developed diabetes.
c. She published her first book.
d. She began instructing in school.
e. She won the Nobel Prize for literature.
A. e-d-c-b-a B. d-c-a-b-e
C. d-a-b-e-c D. e-c-b-d-a
Census Bureau (人口普查局) data released Thursday show that 48 of the 50 most populous (人口稠密的) U.S. cities have grown since 2010, compared with only 40 of the top 50 in the first two years after the 2000 Census. Of the top 100, 93 have grown since 2010, compared with just 72 a decade ago.
Many of the biggest, such as New York, Houston, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego and Dallas, are outpacing the nation’s 1.7% growth rate since 2010.
“Urban America is recovering faster than more remote places,” said Robert Lang, a professor of urban affairs.
Only two big cities - Detroit and Cleveland - lost population between 2010 and 2012.
The urban recovery is led by mid-sized cities including Austin and Fort Worth and Charlotte. Austin grew 6.6% in two years, becoming the USA’s 11th-largest city. In 2000, it was No. 17.
Other trends:
• New York City grew 2%, adding about 161,500 people since 2010. By far it is the USA’s most populous city.
• The population of New Orleans continues to grow. In 2005 a terrible natural disaster happened to the city, causing the population to decrease. Now it has a population of three hundred and sixty-nine thousand. The number has grown by 7.4% since 2010.
• Government budget crunches (紧缩) have put state capitals in difficulty. Half are behind the growth rate of their regions.
Perhaps the biggest exception to the capital crunch is Austin. It has grown more than 26% since 2000. Population expert William Frey says Austin enjoys a number of qualities that make it attractive. It’s a high-tech city with a state university. And it’s in Texas, an attractive place for newcomers. “In some ways it’s a model of what other cities would like to become,” he says.
Frey notes that Charlotte, which grew 5.4% since 2010 has grown into a high-tech and financial center whose industries do business not just with those in other U.S. cities but with the rest of the world.
1.The statistics in Paragraph 1 suggest that _____.
A. there were fewer cities in the USA a decade ago
B. remote areas in the USA have more people now
C. the population in the USA has grown since 2010
D. many big cities in the USA face population problems
2.William Frey thinks Austin’s growth _____.
A. is due to its education
B. is the steadiest in the USA
C. attracts well-educated people
D. deserves the attention of other cities
3.According to the text, Charlotte _____.
A. is a political center
B. has grown slowly since 2010
C. is the USA’s 11th-largest city
D. does business at home and abroad
Sam Allred suffers from a rare and incurable kidney (肾脏) disease. One day, when his sister was playing a song repeatedly, Sam sang along. His sister thought it was funny so she recorded it and posted the video online. The video — and Sam — became a hit. Only 8 years old at the time, he couldn’t have expected the response.
“(The television show) The Doctors called and wanted me on their show so they paid for me to go to California,” says Sam, now 13, “and we got to stay in a hotel where all the movie stars stayed.”
During that visit to California, Angie Allred, Sam’s mother, had an idea about Sam writing a children’s book. Together, she and Sam wrote Opening Hearts, which tells Sam’s experience of living with a chronic (慢性的) illness.
“I wrote the book to teach people to be kinder to people,” Sam says.
Moreover, Sam wanted to send pillows to sick children staying in hospitals around the country to make their stay more comfortable, an idea that came from a time when he was in the hospital.
“A few kind boys came in with pillows and they gave me one and it meant a lot to me that someone cared about kids in the hospital,” says Sam.
Angie thought of starting a nonprofit organization to provide a way for people to contribute money to realize Sam’s ideas. She named the nonprofit Kindness for Kids.
Since then, Sam has taken pillows to children staying at Providence Hospital in Anchorage.
Sam’s father, Scott Allred, owns a small business that contracts (承包) shipping services with FedEx Ground. He asked the company for help.
“FedEx Ground learned about Sam’s pillow project,” says Erin Truxal, manager of public relations for FedEx Ground. “We thought, ‘What a perfect way for us to get involved.’”
The company provided shipping services for Sam to ship about 5,000 pillows to hospitals.
Sam wants to send more pillows to all of the children’s hospitals in every state. His goal is simple: “Kids in the hospital as happy as they were before they got sick,” he says.
1.We can learn from the text that Sam Allred _____.
A. was a healthy boy
B. was popular at an early age
C. sang the song with his sister
D. worked in his father’s company
2. Opening Hearts is a book that _____.
A. is a best seller
B. is about Sam’s sister
C. was published when Sam was 13
D. was written by Sam and his mother
3.What is FedEx Ground’s attitude towards Sam’s career?
A. Doubtful. B. Surprised.
C. Approving. D. Uninterested.
4.Which of the following can best describe Sam Allred?
A. Optimistic and warm-hearted.
B. Honest and responsible.
C. Unusual and confident.
D. Friendly and brave.
书面表达
假定你是李华。校学生会正在举办“魅力中学生”评选报名活动，旨在给学生提供展示风采的舞台，为大家树立学习的榜样。下面的海报吸引了正在你校访问的美国学生Catherine的关注。请向她介绍此次活动，并阐述你心目中“魅力中学生”的标准。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3．首句已给出，不计人总词数。
The poster is about a selection registration named Charming Students.
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改．
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（^），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
In order to promote participation in outdoor exercise, our school had organized an activity to climb the West Mountain on April 10. The moment we arrived at the foot of a mountain, we set out for the top in high spirit. We supported each other to pass the rocky areas on the course of the climb. Laughing and cheering, we eventually reached the summit, there we were greeted by the bright sunshine and fresh air. Viewing from the top, the city was extremely beautiful This event was very benefit, for not only we take a break from our heavy school workload, but we also learned what to cooperate. Therefore, we strongly suggest that similar events are held every year!
