The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is awarded for a novel written by a writer from the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland and it aims to represent the very best in contemporary fiction. The prize was originally called the Booker-McConnell Prize, which was the name of the company that sponsored it, though it was better-known as simply the ‘Booker Prize’. In 2002, the Man Group became the sponsor and they chose the new name, keeping ‘Booker’.
Publishers can submit books for consideration for the prize, but the judges can also ask for books to be submitted that they think should be included. Firstly, the Advisory Committee gives advice if there have been any changes to the rules for the prize and selects the people who will judge the books. The judging panel changes every year and usually a person is only a judge once.
Great efforts are made to ensure that the judging panel is balanced in terms of gender(性别) and professions within the industry, so that a writer, a critic, an editor and an academic are chosen along with a well-known person from wider society. However, when the panel of judges has been decided, they are left to make their own decisions. Meanwhile, the prize sponsor has no further right to take part in any more.
The Man Booker judges include critics, writers and academics to maintain the consistent quality of the prize and its influence is such that the winner will almost certainly see the sales increase considerably, in addition to the￡50,000 that comes with the prize.
1.Who can submit books to the prize?
A. Judges. B. Writers.
C. Readers. D. Sponsors.
2.Why is the prize named the Man Booker Prize?
A. Because the prize is given to writers from the Commonwealth.
B. Because the prize was known as simply the ‘Booker Prize’.
C. Because the prize is sponsored by the Man Group and they kept the name.
D. Because the prize is aimed to award the very best contemporary fiction.
3.Which task can be done by the Advisory Committee?
A. Changing the rules for the prize on their own.
B. Selecting the judging committee.
C. Making decisions on who is the winner.
D. Submitting books for consideration for the prize.
4.The consistent quality of the prizes is guaranteed by ________.
A. the prize money
B. the gender of the judges
C. the make-up of the panel of judges
D. the increase in sales of the winner
"Some secrets are hidden from health," wrote John Updike in his poem "Fever".
I have experienced the truth of Updike's observation. My excellent health kept me from seeing some things—things that became secrets of sort.
One relates to my son Chris. When I lost my health in March, I discovered something I had missed about him.
Christopher has been a scholar and athlete through high school. He has behaved responsibly, engaged in community service. He has had an impressive peer group of serious students.
While I saw these things, I had missed before what I experienced while in hospital. Early on, Christopher offered the clearest and most forceful words about my need to be positive and to fight acute leukemia(急性白血病). He never left the room after a visit without making me promise that I would be mentally tough and positive.
During the first week, he showed his own mental toughness, researching leukemia and learning what the chances were. He even stopped my doctor outside the room, introduced himself and asked directly what he thought of my chances. He processed the answer without overreaction.
Christopher did admonish(劝告) me against my choice of words the first week at home. I had moved back into my room from weighing myself, discovering a thin figure I did not know. I announced to him and my wife, “dead man walking”. I thought it was a way to lighten the obvious. He saw it as negativity and was strongly against such thinking and talking.
When I resisted taking medicine sometimes, Christopher formed a “good-cop-bad-cop” team with his mother. Betsy gently and patiently encouraged. He directly and forcefully insisted. He always made the logical arguments for why I needed to take some awful pills.
My health had hidden something from me; my ill-health helped me to see it.
1.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 indicates that the author ________.
A. got to know more about his son while in hospital
B. knew little about his son until in hospital
C. had no chance of knowing more about his son
D. hardly remembers what happened in the hospital
2.What did Christopher do when the author was in hospital?
A. He told the author not to say anything wrong.
B. He offered some suggestions to the doctor.
C. He always encouraged the author to be confident.
D. He tried to get help from community service.
3.What does “good-cop-bad-cop” in the text refer to?
A. A trick to force the author to obey.
B. A measure to keep the author happy.
C. A friendly way to make the author see what was good for him.
D. A joint effort to persuade the author both kindly and forcefully.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A. Lessons from Ill-health B. Unexpected Love
C. Secrets Hidden from Health D. Discovery Made in Hospital
A new study finds that young females in one group of African chimps(黑猩猩) use sticks as dolls more than their male peers (同龄) do, often treating pieces of wood like a mother chimp caring for a baby. In human cultures around the world, girls play with dolls and pretend that the toys are babies far more than boys do.
Chimp observations, collected over 14 years of field work with the Kanyawara chimp community in Kibale National Park in Ugandan, provide the first evidence of a nonhuman animal in the wild that exhibits sex differences in how it plays. This finding supports an argument that biology as well as society underlies boys’ and girls’ different toy preferences.
Stick play occurred most commonly between ages 3 and 9. Females spent a lot more time carrying sticks than males did. Young male chimps occasionally used sticks to mimic(模仿) childcare. “Far more often, they fought with sticks, an infrequent behavior among females,” say Sonya Kahlenberg of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, and Richard Wrangham of Harvard University.
“Biological differences between the sexes make female chimps more receptive to stick-mothering than males,” says Wrangham.
Consistent with reported cultural traditions among adult chimps, Kanyawara youngsters learned from each other to play with sticks as if caring for babies. Stick play among young chimps showed no evidence of being directly influenced by older chimps. Child-bearing females never played with sticks and thus didn’t model such behavior for younger chimps.
Young females carried sticks for anywhere from a few minutes to several hours. They often rested in nests with their sticks, sometimes playing with them much as chimp mothers play with their babies though they didn’t get any form of teaching from the adults.
1.What does a stick seem like to a young female chimp who plays with it?
A. A doll. B. A mother. C. A baby. D. A toy.
2.We can see from the text that young female chimps ________.
A. often carry sticks with males
B. always carry sticks with males
C. never use sticks in fighting
D. seldom use sticks in fighting
3.From whom do the young chimps pick up the stick play behavior?
A. From each other. B. From older chimps.
C. From their mothers. D. From male chimps.
4.What does the text mainly tell us about young chimps’ stick play?
A. The types of stick play and social influence.
B. The sex differences and social influence.
C. The sex differences and age differences.
D. The ways of stick play and age differences.
World leaders from nearly 200 countries have signed an important historic agreement to fight global climate change. The agreement came after two weeks of talks between the leaders at the 21st Conference in Paris, France.
As part of the Paris agreement, countries said they would cut down on pollution However, according to the terms of the deal, countries that don’t do this will not be punished, or fined. Instead，the document is meant to show that governments around the world take climate change seriously and are willing to work together to fight global warming.
World leaders have met many times to discuss climate change. But, the 21st Conference of Parties, or COP21, which began on November 30 in Paris, was the first time they agreed on a global, legal pact (协定).
Before the conference, each nation was asked to create plans on how to reach the shared goal. The pact that was signed allows countries to decide the best way to cut down their gas pollution. No matter how they decide to go green, each country must report honestly on all of their efforts. Every five years, nations must look at the work they’ve done and submit new plans on how they will improve over the next five years.
In the pact, the countries pledge（承诺）to limit the amount of greenhouse gases emitted（排放） by human activity to the levels that trees，soil and oceans can absorb naturally. It urges countries to spend trillions of dollars on creating new energy sources, like solar and wind power. It also requires countries to raise at least $ 100 billion each year to help developing countries.
However, critics of the pact say it is not detailed enough, and doesn’t include specifics about how the plan will be enforced and how improvements will be measured. The pact does include one large, specific goal: how countries will aim to keep global temperatures from rising more than 3. 60℉(20℃) by 2100.
Nonetheless，the agreement is considered by many world leaders to be a major victory. The U. N. has been working more than two decades to convince governments to work together to reduce man-made emissions.
“History will remember this day,” U. N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said. “The Paris agreement on climate change is a monumental success for the planet and its people.”
1.When was the legal pact probably passed?
A. On November 30. B. On December 4.
C. On December 8. D. On December 12.
2.According to the agreement, countries_________ .
A. have to give a yearly report about their work
B. will be published if they fail to reduce pollution
C. are required to ensure investment in fighting pollution
D. should try to reach the agreed standard in five years
3.What is each country required to do before the Paris conference?
A. Provide a work plan. B. Give an oral explanation.
C. Provide a large amount of money. D. Give a written assessment.
4.The pact is thought to be imperfect because_______.
A. it doesn’t consider developing countries
B. it is not detailed enough
C. it is not attractive to all countries
D. it only benefits some countries
假定你是李华。三月初你在网上买了一双鞋子，打算送给妈妈作为三八妇女节的礼物。但是，收到货后发现存在若干问题。请你就此给网店客服写邮件投诉。
要点如下：1. 介绍购物情况；
2. 反映存在问题；
3. 提出解决方案。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Sir/ Madam,
I am one of your customers._________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Yours,
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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一下作文。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：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在其下面写出改加的词。
删除：在错的词下面一横线，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。
Our school has started the number of clubs to meet the students’ demand. The art club was firstly started in 1968 and has 90 members now. Every Thursday afternoon, they get together to draw some picture in the art classroom. Whether you are a music lover, come to our music club. It made up of 85 members, who usually meet on Saturday. Sometimes they went to concerts together and sometimes they give performances themself. For those who enjoys outdoor sports, the bicycle club may be a good choose. Trips are organized from 9:00 am to 11:00 am on Wednesday. There are many of other clubs in our school. For more information, please dial 33765592.
