The world’s longest 3rd deepest railway underground passage, the Gotthard Base Tunnel, opened on 1 June 2016 after many years of construction. Trains can travel at speeds of up to 250 km an hour through the 57 km long tunnel. It took 17 years to complete and cost $12 billion. A total of 2,600 workers involved in building the tunnel had to excavate more than 28 million tons of rocks. Nine people died during the construction. The engineering milestone will bring southern Germany and northern Italy closer together.
Gattardino shuttle trains will be running between the two endpoints of the tunnel and make a stop at Sedrun, a mountain station in the middle. 65 passenger and 240 freight(货物) trains are expected to travel through the tunnel every day. The Gotthard Base Tunnel will reduce the time it takes trains to pass through the Alps, which have been a natural barrier to travel. In the past traders and merchants had to use mountain passes to travel from north to south. The first Gotthard rail tunnel opened in 1882, but as time went on, it could not handle the growing traffic.
In the 1990s, Swiss citizens approved of a government plan to build a new tunnel. The main purpose of the Gotthard Base Tunnel is to increase local transport capacity(容量) through the Alpine barrier, especially for freight. This not only significantly reduces the danger of deadly road crashes involving trucks, but also reduces the environmental damage caused by the ever-increasing amount of freight carried by heavy trucks. The new tunnel is expected to reduce road traffic crossing the Alps as more and more truck companies will put their freight on Swiss trains.
1.Which of the following can replace the underlined word “excavate” in Paragraph 1?
A. bury B. wash C. weigh D. remove
2.What is the main purpose of building the tunnel through the Alps?
A. To allow more trains to pass through. B. To enlarge the mountain passes.
C. To control the growing road traffic. D. To reduce the cost of truck companies.
3.What can we learn from the text?
A. Gottardino shuttle trains will run through the tunnel without stopping.
B. More passenger trains will travel through the tunnel than freight trains.
C. Constructing the tunnel can be hard and dangerous.
D. There is only one rail tunnel running through the Alps.
4.Where is the text probably taken from?
A. A travel guide. B. A fiction story. C. A fashion magazine. D. A news report.
More and more people, especially in developed countries, arc becoming older. In the United States there are currently over 40 million people aged 65 and over, more than 10 million are over 85. Caring for these senior citizens is becoming a necessity, and a big industry.
Traditionally, care for the elderly has taken place in an extended family, where grandparents live at home and are helped by other family members. However, as more and more young people enter the work force full time they cannot care for their parents or grandparents any more. There are more than 10,000 organizations that provide care for the elderly. More than 1,000 were founded last year alone. Ordinary people quit their jobs and start private care centers, where they offer senior citizens their services.
One of the most difficult aspects of such an organization is finding the right people to do the job. Caring for the elderly is not an easy task. It requires skill and patience. Among daily tasks are preparing meals, washing older people, or simply keeping them company. Many care workers quit because they find it very depressing(令人沮丧的). It is important to help the elderly stay mobile as long as possible. When they cannot walk or climb stairs they need more help: thus costs become higher. Care workers concentrate on exercises to help them stay mobile. In many cases assisted living replaces round-the-clock health care. Elderly people need help with some daily tasks but can mostly live on their own. It also costs less than full nursing care.
While wealthy Americans turn to private care centers, those who are poorer cannot pay for the services because Medicare does not cover it. Not all countries offer health care provided by the state. In Asia and Africa, for example, older people are cared for by family members.
1.Why are more and more private care centers started?
A. Many people can't find other jobs. B. Caring for the elderly is an easy task.
C. Many young people take full time jobs. D. Care workers can get well paid.
2.Who pays for the service in the care center?
A. Medicare. B. The state. C. The family. D. Care centers.
3.What is the third paragraph in the text mainly about?
A. Reasons to start a care center. B. Skills that care workers need.
C. Costs for nursing care. D. Difficulties in running a care centre.
4.How many daily tasks for nursing care are mentioned in the text?
A. Three. B. Four. C. Five. D. Six.
Here’s the news from BBC. Theresa May, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, sends her wishes to those who celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year at Chinese New Year Reception 2017.
"I would like to start by welcoming everybody here to Number 10 Downing Street — my office but also my home. And it’s wonderful to see so many people here and to see the building so beautifully decorated, actually, for Chinese New Year. And I'm delighted that Chinese New Year is an annual celebration in this house just as it is across Britain and across the world.
Today is the beginning of the Year of the Rooster, more specifically, the Year of the Fire Rooster, which I’m told comes every 60 years. Our ambition is to make Britain a country where whoever you are, whatever your background, you can go as far as your talents will take you. And I think that in the British Chinese community, we have an excellent example. Ever since the first Chinese settlers came to this country, in the port cities of Liverpool, Cardiff and London, you’ve been a model of integration(融入) and success. Chinese enterprises, from food to finance, manufacturing to the arts, is a successful support of the British economy.
We want to follow that example, to ensure that whoever they are, they're able to reach their potential.
So as we end the Year of the Fire Monkey, a year in which I was born, let us welcome the Year of the Fire Rooster, approach it with that openness, confidence, hard work and leadership, build that Global Britain, growing our relationship and our strategic(战略的) partnership with China as we do so. And let me wish you and your families a very happy and healthy New Year."
1.Why did Theresa May deliver the speech?
A. To honor some successful oversea Chinese.
B. To celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year.
C. To forecast the Year of the Fire Rooster.
D. To welcome students studying in England.
2.What can we infer from the text?
A. All oversea Chinese celebrate the New Year.
B. The Year of the Rooster comes before the Year of the Monkey.
C. Chinese enterprises make great contributions to the British economy.
D. Everyone can reach their potential in England.
3.What’s Theresa May’s attitude towards Chinese working in England?
A. Appreciative. B. Negative. C. Casual. D. Ambiguous.
假设你是光明中学的高中生李华。你校拟选拔一批优秀学生，利用暑期到蓝天希望小学为学生辅导英语。你希望参加此活动。请根据以下提示，用英语给校评选组写一封申请信：
1. 个人优势（如性格、语言能力等）。
2. 辅导计划
注意：
1.词数120左右；
2.可适当加入细节，以使内容充实、行文连贯；
3. 信的开头和结尾已给出，不计入词数。
参考词汇：
蓝天希望小学Lantian Hope School 小学生pupil
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am Li Hua from Class One, Senior Two. _________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________
Yours Sincerely,
Li Hua
Dear Editor,
I'm a middle school student name Li Ming. I'm writing to tell you something. Recently I noticed many of my classmates often go to the cyber cafe near our school. I went there too in the other day. I was surprising to see many students playing computer games, watching films or chat. Some students were even talking about love affairs online. On my opinion, cyber cafes should be a place which we can find much useful information. The Internet should be a window to the outside world rather than place for games. The Internet is good if we make good use of him. Otherwise, it will give us great harm. So the local government should take measure to make sure that students use cyber cafes positively.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不少于1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Keeping a diary in English is one of the effective ways to improve our English writing abilities.
1. (compare) with other forms of writing, it is shorter and takes 2. time. It can help us to develop the habit of thinking in English. 3. we persist in this practice, gradually we’ll learn how to express ourselves in English. In keeping a diary in English, we certainly run up against many difficulties. In the first place, it often happens 4. we have trouble finding appropriate words and phrases to give expression to our mind.5.(second), there are many idiomatic ways of saying things in Chinese, 6. it is extremely hard for us to put them into English properly.
As far as I am concerned, my 7. (suggest) is that we should always have a notebook and a Chinese-English dictionary within easy reach. Whenever something 8.(beat) us, we can first put it down in our notebook and then consult our dictionary. We can also turn to our English teacher for help, if necessary. In short, I believe that it is 9.great use to keep a diary in English for 10.development of our writing skills.
