An insect bee stands out on the logo of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, despite “Bee” being unrelated to the name of the insect. “Bee” refers to “a gathering”, where people join together in an activity.
The National Spelling Bee, formed in 1925, was a collection of many local spelling bees, organized by Louisville. With competitions, cash prizes, and a trip to the nation’s capital, it was hoped that the bee would stimulate “general interest among pupils in a dull subject”. Mark Neuhauser won the national Spelling Bee held that year, by successfully spelling “gladiolus”. In 2014, there were two winners of the bee-a conclusion that has only happened three other times in Bee history, and not since 1962. Sriam Harthwar, a 14-year-old from New York and Ansun Sujoe, a 13-year-old from Texas shared the excitement as co-champions after 22 rounds of spelling. Each took home over $30,000 in cash, scholarship and bonds.
The spelling bee has been held every year except for 1943-1945 due to World War II. Later, the Scripps Company acquired the rights to the program in 1941. The bee is held in late May or early June of each year. It is open to students who have not yet completed the eighth grade, reach their 15th birthday, nor won a precious National Spelling Bee. Its goal is educational; not only to encourage children to perfect the art of spelling, but also to help enlarge their vocabularies and widen their knowledge of the English language.
1.When did Mark win the National Spelling Bee?
A. In 1925 B. In 1941. C. In 1962. D. In 2014.
2.What does the underlined word “stimulate” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A. influence B. lose. C. inspire. D. show.
3.We can conclude from the text that .
A. Ansun is allowed to take part in the Bee again if he likes
B. the goal of the Bee is more commercial than educational
C. the Bee has already been held for ninety times
D. the first prize has been shared four times in Bee history
4.What’s the purpose of writing the text?
A. To make people know a new kind of insect-spelling bee.
B. To introduce a competition about spelling words.
C. To discuss the ways of participating the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
D. To share Mark Neuhauser’s pleasure of winning the competition.
I am always nervous when I get an email from my parents with "FYI(For Your Information)". My parents are in their late 70s, and while they are quite healthy for their ages, I worry about what messages they are going to give me.
I got such an email in September from my father. He sent an email from my cousin who told that her father, my uncle Reese, had passed away. The news made my mind go blank though I have met him less than a dozen times in my life, because Reese was the first of my parent’s siblings(兄弟姐妹) to die, and I was simply not ready for that.
The memorial service was set in Florida, and I quickly decided I needed to go. I needed to be there for my father, and I needed to go for myself. Reese is about nine years older than my father, and I started to do the math in my head. I know that doesn’t make sense, but I will do anything to reason that I still have a lot of time before I will be in my cousin’s shoes.
Reese’s memorial service was small with only family and perhaps a dozen of his friends. The funeral was attended by an even smaller number, and then, the family gathered at a nearby bar to look at old photographs found among Reese’s possessions when he died.
As we drove back to the Orlando International Airport, I thought about how I am not sure what my parents want, not only in their memorial services, but also how they want to be remembered and where they want to be laid to rest. These are going to be difficult conversations, but I know I need to have them. Maybe not right now, but we do need to open the discussion at some point. It may feel too early, but I trust my parents will know that when adult children raise these questions, we do it out of love to honor their lives and their wishes.
1.Why do emails with “FYI” make the author uneasy?
A. She’s too busy to read those emails.
B. She dislikes her parents’ nonstop talking.
C. She’s afraid to get bad news about her parents.
D. They often bring unpleasant news.
2.How did the author feel about the email from her cousin?
A. Disappointed. B. Shocked. C. Confused. D. Annoyed.
3.What do we know from the third and fourth paragraphs?
A. Not many people attended the funeral.
B. A get-together was held at home.
C. Reese’s friends didn’t appear.
D. The author hesitated to go to Florida.
4.What does the author decide to do after the funeral?
A. Have a talk with her parents about death.
B. Express her love for her parents bravely.
C. Value her parents’ wishes.
D. Get everything ready for her parents.
Shark Keeper
Get up close and very personal with the Aquarium’s largest exhibit and its biggest predators(食肉动物) with the new Shark Keeper program! After each participant prepares to feed the sharks and other fishes in the 120,000-gallon Lost City of Atlantis Exhibit, they will then get the once-in-a-lifetime chance to feed our sand tiger sharks! Participants will also experience a tour of other behind-the-scenes animal care work areas and take home a real-life shark tooth.
Program Outline:
Greeting from Educator
Educational Program: misunderstandings about sharks, biology, pictures, shark tooth comparisons, animal overview, what to expect during the experience.
*Behind-the-scenes food prep
*Brief overview of Safety and Policies
*Feeding
Schedule:
Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays at 3:40 pm
Session: 3:40 pm
Length: 60 minutes
Requirements: All participants must be 16＋.
Price: $50.00, plus Admission(Members: $45.00). Space is currently limited to three participants per scheduled session.
How to Book: Phone: 631 208 9200, ext.H2O(426)
Online: When purchasing your Admission ticket, please select the Shark Keeper add-on under the Aquatic Adventures section of the shopping cart.
Guests with Special Needs:
Long Island Aquarium＆Exhibition Center makes every effort to accommodate guests with special needs. Please be aware that to participate in this program, guests must be able to navigate(导航) the animal habitat spaces with minimum assistance, and must be able to understand and take direction in English from staff members. To ensure the best experience, please contact the Call Center at 631 208 9200, ext. H2O(426) to discuss your individual needs.
Cancellations(取消):
There is a 72-hour cancellation policy. Any cancellation made within 72 hours will not be refunded. No-shows will not be refunded or rescheduled. Guests arriving late (after the required program check-in time) will not be permitted to participate in the program and will not be refunded or rescheduled. We encourage guests to arrive at the Aquarium with plenty of time to park, enter, and check into the program. Adventurers should report to the Main Entrance at least ten minutes ahead. The sessions will begin quickly at the scheduled time. Please plan accordingly.
1.After joining the program, you will ________.
A. feed sharks once a life time
B. meet the biggest predators of sharks
C. draw some pictures of sharks
D. get a real shark tooth as a souvenir
2.If you want to give up the program, you’d better ________.
A. report it to the center 10 min before the session
B. report the center 3 days in advance
C. manage your plan again with 72 hours
D. expect to refund from the center
3.What information can we learn from the program?
A. There is no limit to the age of participants.
B. You need to pay ＄95 at least for the program.
C. You can book the program in advance online.
D. A session is scheduled for 3 children every week.
假设你是成都七中学生王小明，你校外教 Martin 最近退休了。请你代表全校学生根据以下要点，给他写一封感谢信:
1. 感谢他对学生的付出;
2. 回忆师生共度的快乐时光;
3. 祝福他退休生活愉快。
注意： 1、字数 100 词左右；
2、可以适当增加细节，使行文连贯；
3、信的开头和结尾已为你写好 Dear Martin,
How are you doing recently?
Best wishes,
Your students from Chengdu No. 7 High School
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：把缺词处加个漏字符号（∧），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。
A kind of little cars may someday take place of today’s big ones. If all the people who drive such cars in the future, there will be fewer pollution in the air. There will be more space for parking cars in cities. The streets will be less crowd. And driving will be safe as these little cars can go only 65 km per hour. The future cars will be fine for getting round a city, so they will not be useful for long trips. Little cars will go 200 km before needing to stop for more gases. If big cars are still used along with the small ones, two sets of roads will be needed in the future. Some roads will be used for the big fast cars and another roads will be needed for the slow small ones. It is said that three so little cars can fit in with the space now needed for one car of the usual size.
Disposing (处理) of waste has been a problem since humans started producing it. As more and more people choose to live close together in cities, the waste disposal problem becomes 1. (increase) difficult.
During the eighteenth century, it was usual for several neighboring towns to get together to select a faraway spot 2. a dump site (垃圾场). People 3. (transport) household rubbish, rotted wood, and old possessions to the site. Regularly some of the trash was burned and the rest was buried. The 4.(pleasant) sights and smells caused no problem because nobody lived close by. Factories, mills (制造厂), and other industrial sites also had waste to be disposed of. Those located on rivers often just dumped the unwanted 5.(remaining) into the water. Others built huge burners with chimneys to deal with the problem.
Several facts make these choices 6.(accept) to modern society. The first problem is space. Dumps, 7. are now called landfills, are most needed in heavily populated areas. Such areas rarely have empty land suitable for this purpose. The land is either too expensive or too close to residential neighborhoods. A long distance dump has been a common practice, 8. once farm areas are refusing to accept rubbish from elsewhere, cheap land within trucking distance of major city areas is nonexistent. 9.(aware) of pollution dangers has resulted in more strict rules of waste disposal. Pollution of rivers, ground water, land and air is a price people can no longer pay to get rid of waste. The amount of waste, however, continues to grow.
10.(recycle) efforts have become commonplace, and many towns require their people to take part. Even the most efficient recycling programs, however, can hope to deal with only about 50 percent of a city’s reusable waste.
