Every day our life is full of images, videos, music and news. In this age of visual and aural hyperstimulation（视听的高度刺激），the medium of radio is making a marked comeback.
“We're at the dawn of a golden age of audio," said US-based podcaster Alex Blumberg in an article in The Sydney Morning Herald. In the last month alone, 15 percent of US adults listened to a radio podcast. These data, released by Edison Research, reveal the successful evolution of traditional radio broadcasts to the present day's digital podcast format（播客形式）. The term "podcast," was coined in 2004, but the trend only started gaining mainstream popularity in recent years. Since the leap in consumer demand for smart phones and tablets, podcast subscription rates have only accelerated.
You can tune in during those extra minutes of the day when you're walking to the shops, waiting in a queue or riding the subway. Similar to television shows, podcasts are generally free to download on computer or iPod and most offer new content every week.
Donna Jackson, 22, Sydney University media graduate, listens to podcasts two or three times a week, via-iTunes.¨ I listen while I'm hanging out in the house doing something else.
It makes completing a boring task a lot more enjoyable... And it's an easy way of keeping in touch with what's going on in the rest of the world," she said. “I mainly listen to BBC podcasts, but recently I've also been tuning into This American Life and Serial.”
Unlike television and music, the audio format has the ability to create a deep impression on readers. Blumberg says this comes down to the podcast's ability "to create emotional connection." Sydney University undergraduate Hazel Proust, major in social work and arts, agrees. "When you're tuned in, it feels as if the podcaster is talking directly to you. It's comforting," said Proust.
It seems the age-old tradition of verbal（口头的）storytelling is very much alive and well.
1.According to the passage, which of the following is Not a suitable time to listen to procasts ?
A. Attending a lecture. B. Riding the subway.
C. Walking to the shop. D. Waiting for a bus.
2.According to the passage, one difference between television and audio format is that____。
A. only audio format has the ability to create emotional connection to download
B. only audio format helps people keep in touch with the world's change
C. only television provides new content every week
D. only television shows can be free
3. What does the underlined word "coined" in paragraph 2 mean?
A. written. B. thought. C. invented. D. found.
4.It can be inferred from passage that____.
A. people like to listen to podcasts when they work
B. podcasts are more and more popular with people
C. the voice of the podcaster attracts many listeners
D. people keep in touch with each other by listening to podcasts
With the crazy smog going on in China, businessmen are now ready to sell people something to fight against the smog. "Smog economy" has helped certain products against the terrible weather become popular. Now let's see what we have on the list to help us through the terrible weather.
1. Masks
Well, I would say you had better stay indoors to save your lives. PM 2. 5 just increased greatly up t0 750 in Beijing recently. 3M just sold 220,000 masks of a kind. No. 1 best-selling products !
2. Air purifiers(空气净化器)
This kind of products was rarely seen in Chinese households in the past. They have become a must now. I do like these little devices, though they are expensive.
3. Oxygen inhalers(氧气吸人器)
I didn't realize oxygen inhalers also get a cut in the smog economy. As a matter of fact, your oxygen uptake has nothing to do with relieving (减轻) the bad effect of smog. It might even lead to oxygen poisoning when you inhale too much oxygen. So don't get greedy.
4. Salt lamps
Compared to oxygen inhalers, salt lamps are even worse. Some stores are selling the products at several hundred yuan , saying that they can release negative ions(离子), reduce radiation levels and purify the air. The lamps mainly contain sodium chloride. The boiling point of sodium is about 800 degrees centigrade and that of candle is 500. So how on earth can negative ions be released at only 500 degrees?
5. Plants that absorb smog
Yeah, right. Plants Vs Smog. It is scientifically justified (证明) that some plants do absorb pollutants(污染物)from the air. Many plants and calla lilies are among the best-sellers in the market. Even if they don't work, it's good to have some plants in the house anyway.
1.According to the passage, smog _ .
A. encourages people to run away from it
B. keeps people stay indoors day and night
C. gives businessmen chances to make money
D. has nothing to do with the economy
2.Salt lamps are useless, because .
A. its high boiling point may cause a big fire
B. people don't know how to increase its low boiling point
C. it may make the air even worse and dirtier
D. it actually can't give off the negative ions
3. How many products does the author think of as useful ways to fight against the smog?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
One thing the tour books don't tell you about London is that 2,000 0f its residents (屠民) are foxes. They ran away from the city about centuries ago after developers and pollution moved in. But now that the environment is cleaner, the foxes have come home.
"The number and variety of wild animals in urban c城市的) areas is increasing," says Corner Jones. A survey of the wildlife in New York's Central Park last year counted 14 kinds of animals. A similar survey carried out in the 1890's counted only five kinds.
Several changes have brought wild animals to the cities. First, the air and water quality in many cities have improved as a result of the 1970s pollution-control efforts. Meanwhile, rural areas have been built up, and many animals have gone to the area outside the centre of a city. In addition, urban wildlife refuges (避难处) have been created. The Greater London Council last year spent $ 750, 000 to buy land and build 10 permanent (永久性的) wildlife refuges in the city. As a result, many birds are now living in the city. By 1970 the birds had died out east of the Mississippi because the DDT had made their eggs too thin to support life.
That year, scientist Tom Cade of Cornell University began raising the birds for release in cities, for cities afforded abundant food.
Cities can attract wild animals without turning them harmful. The key is to create habitats where they are able to live happily. Such habitats can even be useful. In San Francisco, the local government is testing different kinds of rainwater control basins to see not only which ones keep the cleanest water but which will attract the most birds.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
A. 2,000 foxes returning to London.
B. Wild animals living in zoos.
C. Wildlife returning to some larger cities.
D. The great enemy of wildlife.
2. It can be inferred from the passage that
A. Londoners are putting more and more wild animals into their zoos
B. Londoners are happy to see wild animals return to their city
C. Londoners are trying to move wild animals back to the countryside
D. Londoners have welcomed the wild birds, but found foxes a problem
3.According to the passage, the number of species of wildlife in New York's park .
A. is slowly going down
B. is the same as that in other cities
C. doesn't change too much
D. has more than doubled in the last century
4. Which of the following is NOT a reason why wildlife is returning to the cities?
A. There is plenty of food for wildlife in the city.
B. Wildlife enjoys being watched and fed in the cities.
C. More and more special living areas have been built for the wildlife.
D. Air and water quality has improved in the cities.
I'm a blind teenager girl, but I am ashamed of it if it is known. I refuse to use a white stick and hate asking for help, and I couldn't bear people to look at me and think I am not like them. I must be a terrible danger on the roads. Coming across me wandering through the traffic, motorists probably would have to step rapidly on their brakes. Apart from that, there are all sorts of disasters that used to occur on the way to and from work.
One evening, I got off the bus about halfway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I ran into something. "I'm awfully sorry," I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been apologizing to a lamppost. This was just one of the stupid things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop, which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn't stop unless passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to try to guess if the bus had arrived.
Generally in this situation, because I hated showing I was blind by asking for help, I tried to guess at the sound. Sometimes I would stop a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to swallow my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.
But on this particular evening no one joined me at the stop; it seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass, or I thought I did. But because I had given up stopping them for fear of making a fool of myself, I let them all go by. I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one. Then I gave up. I decided to walk on to the next stop.
1.The girl is unwilling to use a stick or ask for help because .
A. she thinks she might be cheated
B. asking for help will cost her money
C. she is normal and independent
D. she can't stand being found different from others
2. According to the passage, after the girl got off the bus that evening, she .
A. began to run away
B. knocked down a person as usual
C. hit a lamppost by accident
D. made several apologies to an old man
3. What was the problem with guessing at the sound to stop a bus?
A. All cars have exactly the same sound.
B. No bus would stop to pick up a blind girl.
C. Some lorries may have the same sound as that of the bus.
D. It took long for the girl to recognize the sound of a bus.
4.At last the girl decided to walk to the next stop, hoping
A. to find people there
B. to hear more buses there
C. to find the bus by herself there
D. to hear his parents waiting for her
书面表达
假如你是红星中学学生会主席李明，根据学校安排，你给即将到你校任教的外籍教师Jack推荐一名学生助手（assistant）,请根据所给提示给Jack 写封推荐信。
1． 欢迎Jack的到来;
2． 推荐刘佳做学生助手;
3． 刘佳的基本情况（18岁，高三学生，学校十佳学生）;
4． 刘佳的性格和特长。
注意：
1.词数100左右;
2. 可以适当发挥，使得上下文连贯;
3.开头和结尾已写好，不计入总数。
Dear Jack，
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________________
Looking forward to your coming.
Yours,
Li Ming
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：在错的词下划一横线，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。
It is reported that thirty cellpones taken away by teachers during the examination and were smashed(粉粹) in front of students and parents at a high school. As to this, we hold a heated discussion the other day. There are two different viewpoints about them.
Some think it necessarily. Firstly, with cellphones, students would have focused their attention on studying instead of wasting their precious time reading junk message. Secondly, the examination will be fair if no one cheats by using cellphones. However, the others don’t think so. For one thing, at the age of information, cellphones have become a necessity. For another, students can use cellpones for study.
Personal speaking, even if some students use cellphones for no good reason, we should educate them more than destroy cellphones in such an extreme way.
