Like many thickly populated urban neighborhoods, Lincoln Park also has rats. A lot of rats. “Every night when I walk down the sidewalk, I see rats, ” says 36-year-oId Kelly McGee, who has come to accept this aspect of city living. “It’s an urban area; I don't know what else we can expect.”
McGee lives just down the block from the old Children's Memorial Hospital, which is about to be torn down as part of a massive redevelopment project. “Construction all over the city often disturbs rats that are living underground,” says Lincoln Park’s City Council representative, Alderman Michele Smith. “Every developer has to do active rat reduction on site, ”Smith says. Already, there are poisonous and inviting food boxes all around the old hospital complex. But the developer of the hospital site still warned residents in a recent community meeting that when digging begins later this month, the rat problem could be awful.
Victoria Thomas, who lives a few miles north of Lincoln Park in Chicago’s Lake View neighborhood, says she tried everything from underground fencing to poison traps to wipe out rats, but nothing worked until she got some cats. From the first day she got the cats, Thomas says the rats started to disappear.
“The cats will kill off a great deal of the initial population of the rats, ”says Paul Nickerson, who manages the Cats at Work program for Tree House Humane Society. “And through spreading their pheromones, a chemical produced by an animal, the cats will keep other rats from filling their absence.” Nickerson says that is what makes the cat program so successful in keeping rats away for the long term. ” The rats are far from stupid. They smell the cats’ pheromones so they’ll stay out of the cats’ territory(领域).”
After Smith highlighted the program in a recent newsletter, Nickerson and Tree House Humane Society have been getting lots of calls from people seeking their own cat colonies. That means a lot more wild cats that might otherwise be killed out of pity will be cared for while doing something that they love: hunting rats.
1.What is McGee’s attitude towards the rat problem?
A. Indifferent. B. Tolerant.
C. Annoyed. D. Frightened.
2.What does the underlined word in the last but one paragraph refer to?
A. Rats’ stupidity.
B. Tree House Humane Society.
C. Cat’s nature of killing rats.
D. The smell of cat’s pheromones.
3.What does the last paragraph suggest?
A. The program is a win-win thing.
B. Cats should be taken good care of.
C. Wild cats are more skilled at hunting.
D. It’s important to keep the ecological balance.
Oh my God, the robots are taking over! We’re doomed! Doomed! Now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, it’s become clear that while we may or may not be doomed, the robots are taking over. The latest example is the government’s new guidelines for self-driving cars.
Tesla, Google and Uber are already testing driverless cars in cities across America. Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick is among those predicting that by 2021, self-driving cars will play a big part in urban settings.
Nearly 40,000 people died last year in this nation in automobile-related accidents, and we believes driverless cars can save tens of thousands of lives annually.
Makes sense. Robot drivers are less likely to get drunk, drive without a license, text while driving or feel agitated at the scene of a pileup. On the other hand, I wonder how these highly sensitive cars will react, with walkers constantly dashing into the street. Will they jam on the brakes every 10 seconds?
But there’s a bigger picture. Not only are robots replacing humans behind the wheel, but behind the work desk, in warehouses, senior homes, you name it. Robots aren’t just taking over in the workplace.
The question is, where can’t a robot function better than a human? How about writing songs? A robot can go through every combination of notes in record time and come up with a pleasing melody. The lyrics might be a different story. Is a Grammy-winning song co-written by Hank Human and R-3071 in our future?
Finally, it’s only a matter of time until we have robot politicians and presidential candidates. Why not? They can be programmed to be experts in world and domestic affairs and come up with the best solutions without corruption and bad humors.
Actually, it’s too bad such technology isn’t available in 2016. Pretty sure the robot would win in a landslide.
1.What does the underlined word “agitated” mean?
A. Tired B. Cautious
C. Careful D. Anxious
2.What doubt does the writer have about self-driving cars?
A. How passengers behave in it.
B. How robot drivers get the license.
C. How they avoid crashing into other car.
D. How they respond to walkers on a busy street.
3.The last questions asked in the sixth paragraph reflects the writer’s ________.
A. confidence in robots, winning Grammy Awards
B. eagerness to listen to songs written by robots
C. doubt about robots’ ability to write songs
D. curiosity about the future Grammy songs
4.What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. Robots will control the world in every field
B. Robots are coming but not soon enough
C. Robots are being used in our daily life
D. Robots can drive cars and write music
On Christmas Eve, 1944, my grandmother urged my uncle, then 12 years old, to slip out of the concentration camp where they were imprisoned near 15 miles east of Vienna to go to Deutsch-Wagram. “People are charitable around Christmastime,” Grandma Lili said to her son, Gyuri. “Ask for some food. Anything they can spare. Tell them that we’re on the edge of starvation. Tell them that your 3-year-old sister can not get off the bed because she’s outgrown her shoes.”
In the dark of that night, Gyuri secretly left the camp and walked nearly four miles to Deutsch-Wagram, the closest town. He happened upon a house and knocked on the front door. A woman opened that door. She was probably alone, her man far away, fighting in the war, her children asleep in their beds. The 12-year-old pieced together in German exactly what his mother had told him to say.
“Come back tomorrow," whispered the woman. The next day, my uncle returned. The woman opened the door with a smile. She piled his hands with bread, clothing, a pair of shoes that her child had outgrown and a pair of socks. The woman had knitted warm socks for my mother. After putting on the socks and shoes that fit, my mother got off the bed in delight. Her ragged shoes were passed on to a younger child who was also living in the camp. They shared their unexpected harvest with the entire camp. It was a quiet celebration of human kindness around Christmastime.
In April 1945, my mother, uncle and grandmother were liberated. And it was those very socks and shoes that my mother wore as she walked some 28 miles over two days to Bratislava on her walk to a new life.
To the unknown giver, I thank you. In the desperation of a cold and snowy land, when many hearts were closed and death was more likely than life, especially for Jews, you gave them hope and comfort.
1.What did Gyuri manage to do on Christmas Eve?
A. Get permitted to go out.
B. Receive food and clothing.
C. Express what his family needed.
D. Celebrate Christmas in the camp
2.Why does the author mention shoes so many times?
A. To prove the truth of the story.
B. To help the development of the story.
C. To attract readers’ attention to the story.
D. To make clear the background of the story.
3.What feeling did the author write the text with?
A. Desperation. B. Gratefulness.
C. Excitement. D. Sorrow.
4.What is the passage mainly about?
A. Light in darkness. B. Peace to common people.
C. Courage in face of danger. D. The influence of Christmas.
If you want to visit only the sights that you think are most interesting, you should definitely book one of the many private tours in NYC.
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Revolutionary Era Walking Tour: When you book this informative NYC walking tour, you and your kids will wander around Manhattan’s Financial District and hear all about the American Revolution. With knowledgeable guides, your kids will love the tour too.
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1.What can we know about NY Limo Tour?
A. It gives you hands-on experiences of travel planning.
B. It provides tourists with high quality service.
C. It is a playground of the old and young.
D. It mainly focuses on cultural sights.
2.Which tour is probably most suitable for visitors with a tight schedule?
A. NY See It All. B. NY Limo Tour.
C. Aerial Landmark Tour. D. Revolutionary Era Walking Tour.
3.What do the two family-friendly tours mentioned have in common?
A. They offer various entertainment facilities.
B. They can equip kids with some knowledge.
C. They contain many unique outdoor activities.
D. They include both natural and man-made sights.
4.What does the author intend to tell in the passage?
A. What to do when you stay in NYC.
B. Where to stay if you come to NYC.
C. How to go sightseeing if you visit NYC.
D. How to have fun when you live in NYC.
假设你是某外国语学校的学生会主席。最近, 为了弘扬雷锋精神, 你校决定开展多项志愿服务活动。请用英语写一篇倡议书, 发表在校英语报上, 号召同学们加入本校的志愿者俱乐部。内容包括:
1. 陈述当志愿者的好处；
2. 向同学们发出几点倡议。
注意:1. 词数100左右;
2.可适当增加细节, 使行文连贯
3.开头已给出, 不计入总词数。
Dear fellow students,
Volunteering has a positive effect on our community. __________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Students’ Union
以下10个句子，每个句中只有一处错误。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（∧），并在符号下面写上该加的词。
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。
1.The number of the learners have increased by 30% since 2010.
2.The woman as well as the children were invited to the birthday party last night.
3.Only when the war was over did the family can return to their country.
4.The mother was delivered by a healthy baby, which made everyone happy.
5.Lin Qiaozhi devoted her whole life to show consideration to the patients.
6.Just dream for things, however, costs nothing.
7.This character was social failure but was loved for his optimism.
8.You may find it astonished that she was married to a rich man.
9.That was a generation where girls' education was placed second to boys’.
10.He has intended to catch the early bus, but he didn’t get up early.
