This time last year I entered two long-distance mass-participation swimming events, including the Jubilee River 10 km swim. At the last minute, just before both swims, I decided to pull out. The reality is, I live in fear of coming last.
Last year, before the two events, I realized that I couldn’t deal with coming last. I had looked at the swim times of those who had completed the previous year and calculated that, at my current swim pace, I would probably have come last. I just couldn’t face it. But when next year came around, I decided to enter those same events again.
For a few months, I trained hard, but I didn’t get any faster. Then it was June 5, the day of the Jubilee River 10 km. The event started at 9:30 am, and the swimmers were anxious and eager to start. As I swam along, the river was quiet and clean and everything was peaceful. The sun shone, Meadows (草地）rolled by and every now and then someone would wave at the scene unfolding in the water.
As the day wore on, somehow I didn’t mind that, predictably, almost everyone was ahead. There were at least some swimmers still near me, and although we shared the same river we quietly occupied our own spaces. As I concentrated on doing my own thing, watching the sky, the bank, the other swimming caps passing or not passing, I realized I was enjoying myself.
In the end, four hours and 29 minutes after I’d started, I staggered (摇摇晃晃地走)out of the water and was greeted with a smile and a “well done” from the race organizer. I glanced back over my shoulder toward the water and noticed that there were a small handful of swimmers who were still to finish, behind me, out of a field of around 300 swimmers. But it didn’t matter. I was just relieved, proud and happy to finish.
As I drove away, my thoughts turned to my next long race of the season and how much I was looking forward to it, my fears of coming last gently receding(渐渐远去).
1.The author intended to quit swimming mainly because _______.
A. she feared that she couldn’t finish the two races
B. she was afraid that she would let family members down
C. she was unwilling to accept the possibility of finishing last
D. she didn’t fully prepared for the two races
2.The author hopes to convey the message that ______.
A. never give up when facing challenges
B. it is process that matters most
C. failure is the mother of success
D. winners always take it all
3.What did the underlined sentence mean in the fifth paragraph?
A. She took pride in leaving all the other swimmers behind
B. She was proud that she was not the last one in the race
C. She was glad to finish the race and had a sense of relief
D. She was proud to be praised by the organizer
4.It can be inferred from the end that the author is likely to _______.
A. participate in another race without any hesitation
B. analyze the reason why she failed in the race
C. lose confidence completely
D. decide whether she is suitable for the race
Famous people have a lot of influence on cultural trends, like it or not. When Amal Clooney wears a Stella McCarney dress, sales go way up. However, one trend that seems harmless—but is actually damaging—is the pressure on stars to have their photos taken with rare animals.
Famous people who are asked to have photos taken with wild animals for a magazine spread or who do so while on vacation always have good intentions and even love animals. This makes them easy targets for the often greedy amusement parks and fake animal centers. These businesspeople love the thought of sharing pictures of a star hugging a baby tiger or a whale. Kind people are naturally drawn to places that claim to offer rare animals safety and are eager to see elephants paint, to hug baby bear or to swim with dolphins. However, it has shown that many of these businessmen are breeders, dealers or exhibitors that are using Hollywood’s goodwill for their own ends.
At the recently closed Tiger Temple in Thailand, 40 dead tiger cubs(幼崽) were found in a freezer, secretly killed to make tiger wine and other folk medicine for sale on the black market. But it isn’t just the “tiger temples” that are being closed down. The number of tourist traps using word like “rescue” in their names has increased greatly in recent years.
Many businessmen continually breed the animals just so they’ll have a constant supply of young animals in order to charge money for photos to people. Of course the babies are cute but they grow fast, and within a few weeks they are too big to handle. They’ll spend the rest of their lives, sometimes decades, in small and empty cages — or even be killed.
In some Asian countries, elephants are kept in camps. A few camps are working to help elephants in trouble, but the vast majority are not, and training methods are cruel. As soon as the cameras are gone after someone like Prince William takes 0a photo with an elephant, the chains go back on.
Fans, tell the stars: Stay away from rare animal photos, and the animals will be grateful. Of course, you don’t have to be famous to make a difference. Whether right here at home or at a place abroad, every one of us must fight the temptation to take a photo with an elephant or hug a baby tiger.
1.The author intends to make an appeal that ________.
A. all people including stars should refuse to take photos with rare animals
B. measures should be taken to protect the rare animals
C. bans should be issued to limit celebrities’ behavior
D. warns of wild animals should be given to the public
2.It can be inferred that ________.
A. tiger wine and folk medicine made from tiger babies are sold in the supermarket
B. most of the elephants in Asia are treated well in camps
C. people are attracted to amusement parks and fake animal centers where celebrities share photos
D. when the baby animals that take photos with tourists grow up, they will be set free
3.Businessmen use the following tricks to make profits EXCEPT ________.
A. in the name of rescuing rare animals
B. take advantage of famous people to take photos with animals
C. claim to offer rare animals safety
D. protection of rare animals
4.Which of the following do you think is the best title?
A. Tell stars to stop!
B. Be careful when sharing photos on media!
C. No sale, no killing!
D. Rescue the endangered animals!
Flying is fine if you want to save time, but nothing beats the railway for a relaxing and down-to-earth journey. The Zhengzhou---Xuzhou and Xi’an---Fuzhou high-speed railways put into operation in September mark a connection of high-speed railways in China’s eastern and middle-western regions, and they have brought out some of the country’s best landscapes and cuisines.
Here are four signature dishes(招牌菜) that you shouldn’t miss as you travel along the railways.
Yangrou Paomo, Xi’an
If one dish could represent Xi’an, the capital of Shaanxi, locals would tell you without doubt that it’s Yangrou Paomo. It is a bowl of lamb soup served with hard flour “bread”, which is broken up and added to the soup. The soup is topped with slices of mutton, scallion(葱) and coriander(香菜). Then it is usually eaten with picked sweet garlic.
Soup Dumpling, Kaifeng
A popular snack in Kaifeng, Henan, the dish is made up of three things: skin, meat and soup. The skin is made from flour, while the filling is usually pork. And just as its name suggests, the soup dumplings are filled with tasty soup. But how does the steaming hot soup get into the dumplings? It’s actually been cooled and cut into cubes, which fit easily into the dough(面团). Along with the pork, the cubes become liquid soup once they’re steamed.
Smelly Mandarin Fish, Huangshan
Despite its name, Smelly Mandarin Fish(臭鳜鱼) is known for its good taste. A lot of travelers who visit Huangshan in Anhui want to taste it because they have heard of its reputation. Once the skin has been removed, the fresh is preserved in salty water for six to seven days, then fried and cooked in soy sauce. Although salting gives the fish its special smell, the original tender flesh is preserved well and given a delicious and unique taste.
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, Fuzhou
The dish has enjoyed an over 100-year-long worldwide reputation since it was invented in Fuzhou, Fujian in the late Qing Dynasty(1644-1911). Fotiaoqiang, or Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, got its interesting name from a poem a customer wrote. The poem said the dish was so delicious that upon smelling it, monks in the neighboring temple would jump over the wall to come and get some. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is made up of many ingredients, including sea cucumber(海参), chicken, pork and mushroom. Because of these ingredients, it tastes extremely delicious while being highly nutritious at the same time.
1.You may probably read the passage from a ________.
A. science journal B. sports website
C. traveling magazine D. bulletin board
2.All of the following signature dishes are mentioned except ________.
A. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall B. Beijing Roast Duck
C. Soup dumpling D. Smelly Mandarin Fish
3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. People get the heated soup into the dough skillfully to make soup dumplings in Kaifeng.
B. The Smelly Mandarin Fish is similar to Choudoufu both in smell and taste.
C. Yangrou Paomo is a typical tasty food in Taiyuan, Shanxi Province.
D. Buddha Jumps Over the Wall has got the name from literary works.
Many of you are studying hard because you have to compete with many others in the upcoming national college entrance exam. But it may not occur to you that one of your competitors is a robot. An artificial intelligence(AI) robot will take part in the 2017 National College Entrance Exam, reported China Daily.
“The robot will sit three exams: math, Chinese, and a comprehensive test of liberal arts (文科), which includes history, politics and geography,” Lin Hui, CEO of an AI company in Chengdu. Like the others who take the exam, the robot will have to finish the tests in the given time. But instead of taking exams together with other students, the robot will take its exams in a closed room without anyone else present, except for proctors(监考人) and a notary(公证人). It is expected to be totally disconnected from the Internet and solve the problems with its AI program.
It’s believed that Chinese and the test of its liberal arts skills, rather than its math skills, will give the robot its biggest challenges. Questions in math are objective with specific answers, while in the other test subjects there are some subjective questions that test skills such as reading comprehension and essay writing.
The robot aims to be enrolled in one of the first-class Chinese universities in 2017, and then try to get into the more famous universities of Tsinghua or Peking University in 2020.
1.The author wrote the passage in order to ________.
A. lay more burden on Grade 3 students
B. inform readers of the explosive news
C. introduce the function of the robot
D. predict what robots will do in the future
2.What’s the main idea of the second paragraph?
A. The differences between the robot and other candidates.
B. The specific information about how the robot will take the exam.
C. The ideal universities of the robot.
D. The advantages the robot has.
3.Which is one of the biggest challenges for the robot candidate?
A. Math calculating B. Objective questions
C. Liberal arts skills D. Physics questions
4.Choose the correct one according to the passage.
A. The robot candidate will have its separate proctors
B. The robot will participate in Chinese, English, math and science
C. The robot is not designed to be admitted to universities
D. The robot connected from the Internet will sit for the college entrance exam
“Do you really want to eat that?” “Slow down. I’m worried about your healthy.” These were just a few of the much comments I received my parents. These and other comments made me find a personally trainer. The comments also made me feel terrible about my figure, what in turn caused unhealthy behavior included secret eating. Now, at 24 years old, I weigh 240 pound and I’m still getting those same comments from my family, despite a fact that I’ve asked them to stop. Such comments are really annoyed. I do hope that all parents will stop to saying such things to their children.
Last Friday, my friend David called me and invited me and our friend Tom to a party in his university. Tom and I are in1.same class. We both wanted to go to the party, but there was a problem--we’d have a final exam on the 2.(come) Monday.
“Don’t worry. We can come back on Sunday and won’t miss the exam,” really3.(want) to go to the party, Tom said. So I decided to go4.him.
The party was great and we5.(true) enjoyed ourselves there. However, we stayed up late on Saturday night and slept all day on Sunday and didn’t make it back to our university until Monday morning. We missed the exam. Then we went to our professor’s office and explained6.we missed the exam. We lied that there was a flat tire（车胎漏气）on our way back to the university. Our professor 7.(agree) that we could take the exam the following day.
When it was time to take the exam, Tom and I8.(take )to different rooms. After we opened the test paper, we saw only one question, “Which tire?”
Neither Tom nor I answered the question. Instead we told our professor the truth. Luckily, he later gave9.(we) the real test paper. And both Tom and I made a10.(decide): never to lie again.
