Where to enjoy a picture-perfect white Christmas?
Quebec City, Canada
When the narrow streets of Quebec City are covered in snow, it feels like you’ve wandered into a beautiful Victorian Christmas card which has come to life. Enjoy the friendliness of this charming Canadian city with joyous outdoor concerts, holiday markets and Quebec Adabra — an evening festival of music, lights, animation (动画) and architectural projections held city-wide.
London, England
The capital is bursting with holiday cheer. Bright Christmas lights brighten up Oxford Street, Covent Garden and Carnaby Street. Skating people can go for a seasonal spin in Somerset House, Hyde park, Canary Wharf and the Tower of London. Love holiday music? St. Martin-Fields hosts an inspiring line-up of Christmas concerts while London’s most famous Christmas tree entertains visitors in Trafalgar Square.
Prague, Czech Republic
Prague’s beautiful architecture provides a dramatic setting for its Christmas activities. At the foot of the Church of Our Lady before Tyn, the Old Town Christmas market sells Christmas gifts and treats to the thousands of shoppers who visit it each December. Carol (圣诞颂歌) singers perform seasonal favourites while a well-decorated Christmas tree adds to the joyous atmosphere.
Rovaniemi, Finland
For a storybook Christmas, Rovaniemi in Finland is hard to beat. Lapland’s capital becomes a winter wonderland. The area is lit by the impressive northern lights，and they can be witnessed around the city from mid-August to early April. This magical place is also the official home of Santa Claus himself and visitors of all ages can meet everything about Christmas at Santa Claus Village right at the Arctic Circle.
1.Why does the author mention the Victorian Christmas card?
A. To indicate Quebec City is beautiful.
B. To show it always snows at Christmas.
C. To tell us Christmas is a lively holiday.
D. To suggest that we buy Christmas cards.
2.Where can you skate in London at Christmas?
A. In Oxford Street.
B. In Covent Garden.
C. In Canary Wharf.
D. In Trafalgar Square.
3.What makes a Christmas in Prague more attractive?
A. The unique gifts offered to tourists.
B. The great architecture of Prague.
C. The Old Town Christmas market.
D. A well-decorated Christmas tree.
4.What is special about Rovaniemi?
A. Its scenery attracts visitors of all ages.
B. It is a winter wonderland full of magic.
C. Its Christmas celebrations last long.
D. It is where Santa Claus comes from.
短文写作（共1题；满分30分）
请根据以下提示，并结合事例，用英语写一篇短文。
“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” －Albert Einstein.
注意：
①无须写标题，不得照抄英语提示语；
②除诗歌外，文体不限；
③文中不得透露个人姓名和学校名称；
④词数不少于120词左右。
完成句子（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）阅读下列各小题，根据汉语提示，用句末括号内的英语单词完成句子，并将答案写在答题卡上的相应题号后。
1. a car, I could get out of this place. (only)
要是我有一辆车，我就能离开这个地方了。
2.Afraid of the fire, away . (run)
由于怕火，那些野生动物逃跑了。
3.The girl fell down on the playground but got up quickly, the race. (determine)
这个女孩摔倒在操场上，但很快爬了起来，决心完成比赛。
4. sitting in the classroom all day may account for these students’ dropping out. (feed)
厌倦了整日坐在教室里可能是这些学生辍学的原因。
5. the job was the chance to travel. (attract)
这份工作最吸引我的地方是有旅行的机会。
6. the poem than the students began to ask her questions. (finish)
她刚读完这首诗，学生们就开始向她提问题了。
7.It won’t make much difference today or tomorrow. (go)
无论你是今天还是明天去，关系不大。
8.In Australia, health authorities confirmed on Thursday that a 57-year-old woman
in a hospital in Queensland state for the deadly Ebola virus. (assess)
澳大利亚卫生当局星期三证实，一位57岁的妇女正在昆士兰州一家医院接受致命的爱博拉病毒评估。
9.The records are not so good the standards. (compare)
这些记录和标准比起来还不算很好。
10.Our situation has been made worse now, and we have reached a stage almost no right at all. (have)
现在我们的情况变得更糟糕，已经到了这样一个阶段：我们几乎没有任何权利。
A new smart phone system under development can locate you even when you’re inside a building, which GPS can't do. While the concept sounds powerful, it’s not yet clear how practical it might be.
The set-up, called SurroundSense, sends information from cameras and microphones—gear in the latest smart phones—to a server that produces a fingerprint of the location.
“You can’t tell much from any of the measurements individually, but when combined, the optical (光学的), acoustic (声学的) and motion information creates a unique fingerprint of the space,” said Ionut Constandache, a student in computer science.
The system distinguishes between two indoor spaces in this manner: It knows that a bar is likely to be dark and noisy and people move little, sit a lot, whereas a department store will be brightly lit, contain vibrant colors, and will see a lot of people moving up and down passages. The more the system is used, the more it learns about specific places.
More work is needed before the set-up would be ready for prime time, however. For now, it can’t work if a person’s cellphone is in a handbag or otherwise unable to employ the camera. Finally it would be best served if paired with phones that were worn on the wrist or hung around the neck. Batteries, too, are a problem.
Students on the research team went out across Durham, North Carolina, with their cellphones collecting data in different types of businesses. The students mirrored the actions of the selected customers so that they would not prejudice the measurements.
“We went to 51 different stores and found that SurroundSense achieved an average accuracy (精确性) of about 87 percent," Constandache said.
“As the system collects and analyzes more and more information about a particular site, the fingerprint becomes more precise,” said Romit Roy Choudhury, professor of computer engineering. “Not only is the ambience different at different locations, but also can be different at different time at the same location.”
1.We can infer from the first paragraph that GPS .
A. can find you wherever you are
B. can make too much loud noise
C. can only find outside things
D. isn’t really practical yet
2.Why did students mirror the actions of the selected customers?
A. To get a reasonable result.
B. To collect data in different ways.
C. To receive information about a particular site.
D. To learn more about specific places.
3.The underlined word “ambience” in the last paragraph may mean .
A. the fingerprint of the location
B. the character of a place
C. the existence of people
D. the area of store
4.The main idea of the passage is about .
A. comparing GPS with a smart cellphone
B. the development of cellphones
C. a cellphone knowing where you are
D. what kind of future cellphones face
Today, I felt terrible. My head was full of problems, burdens and confusion. I decided to take a walk even though I didn't know where I would go.
The most extraordinary thing happened when I was on this walk.
I saw an old man sitting on a chair. He was a seller of second-hand shoes. I thought he looked at least seventy years old. He seemed so tired and nobody was buying his shoes. I wanted to give him something but I had not brought anything with me.
Then, a little girl came toward him. I heard the child say, “Grandfather, may I polish your shoes?” That old man took pity on her and he gave her a shoe to polish.
The girl said, “I polish the shoe because I need money to buy my brother a new school uniform.”
I heard this and tears came to my eyes. The old man answered, “Oh, little girl. Just stop doing this. Come with me and I will buy you a school uniform.” Then they walked to a market and I followed them behind. There he bought her a school uniform.
The girl said, “Thank you so much for doing this. May God bless you.” Then she left, leaving the old man smiling.
He walked away from the market, but I stopped him. I whispered in his ear, “You are a hero! Thank you for your kindness!” As I walked away, I glanced back and I could see him still smiling.
My own sadness disappeared and was chased away (赶走) by the light of this kind act. I began realizing that I have a lot to be thankful for. I hope, some day, I can show my appreciation of what I have by following the example of the old man who only had a little, but shared it beautifully with someone who had nothing.
1.When seeing the old shoe seller, how did the author feel?
A. Sympathy. B. Sorrow.
C. Regret. D. Disappointment.
2.Why did the girl offer to polish shoes for the old man?
A. She took pity on him.
B. She wanted to take care of him.
C. She meant to be friendly to him.
D. She expected to get help from him.
3.Why did the author follow the old man and the girl?
A. To witness a kind act.
B. To talk to the old man.
C. To know the old man.
D. To know where the market was.
4.By sharing the story, the author wants to convey a message that .
A. a kind act can cheer us up
B. the old man set us an example
C. some poor people need our help
D. we should stop pitying the old
How can you help kids cope with(应对) stress? Proper rest and good nutrition can boost coping skills, as can good parenting. Make time for your kids each day. Whether they need to talk or just be in the same room with you, make yourself available.
Even as kids get older, quality time is important. It’s really hard for some people to come home after work, get down on the floor, and play with their kids or just talk to them about their day--especially if they've had a stressful day themselves. But expressing interest in your kids shows that they’re important to you.
Help your children cope with stress by talking about what may be causing it. Together, you can come up with a few solutions. For example, they should cut back on after-school activities, spending more time talking with parents or teachers, developing an exercise plan or keeping a journal.
You can also help by predicting stressful situations and preparing kids for them. For example, let a child know ahead of time ( but not too far ahead of time) that a doctor’s appointment is coming up and talk about what will happen there. Keep in mind, though, that younger kids probably won't need too much advance preparation. Too much information can cause more stress.
Remember that some level of stress is normal; let kids know that it’s okay to feel angry, scared, lonely, or anxious and that other people share those feelings.
When kids can’t or won’t discuss these issues, try talking about your own concerns. This shows that you’re willing to handle tough topics and are available to talk with them when they’re ready. If a child shows symptoms that concern you and is unwilling to talk, consult a counselor or other mental health experts.
Most parents have the skills to deal with their kids’ stress. The time to seek professional attention is when any change in behavior persists, when stress is causing serious anxiety on when the behavior is causing significant problems in functioning at school or at home.
1.What is the purpose of the text?
A. To share the author' s ideas on proper parenting.
B. To persuade parents to spend more time with kids.
C. To advise parents how to help kids deal with stress.
D. To seek different ways to help solve kids' problems.
2.What makes it difficult for parents to spare kids quality time?
A. Kids growing so fast.
B. Parents being tired out.
C. Kids losing interest in parents.
D. There being too much homework.
3.You are advised not to talk too much about a stressful situation in advance because .
A. it does no good to your kids
B. it doesn’t work in practice
C. your kids may lose interest
D. your kids don’t want to listen
4.What can we learn from Paragraph 5 ?
A. Normal people share the same feelings.
B. It is normal for kids to have some stress.
C. Kids should get rid of negative feelings.
D. Everybody feels angry, scared, lonely or anxious.
