Over seven months have passed since Panamanian officials launched an expansion of the world famous Panama Canal. Officials agreed to the expansion so that many of the world’s largest cargo ships (货船) could easily pass through the canal. Yet the $ 5.25-billion project has problems. It says ships still continue to rub against the canal’s walls and wear out its defenses designed to protect both shipping and the waterway.
A dangerous system
The canal links two oceans-the Atlantic and the Pacific-through a system of locks (船闸). The locks are like steps. They raise and lower ships from one part of the waterway to another on their trip from ocean to ocean.
With the old locks, which are still in use, large ships would be tied to powerful engines on both sides. These engines help to keep the ships in the center of the canal. In the new locks, the ships are tied to tugboats (拖船). One tugboat is tied to the front of the ship, with the other tied to the back. These boats then guide the ships through the canal.
At first, pilots of the cargo ships and tugboat operators would sometimes try to rub the boats against the canal walls as a way to keep the ships straight. But this caused damage to rubber padding (垫料) lining the walls.
Not enough training
Even before the expanded canal opened in June 2016, tugboat operators had expressed concern about the new system. Many asked for more training. The fears and dangers remain, although the boats are going through.
The Panama Canal Authority reports that, between June 2016 and January 2017, there were only 15 incidents that resulted in damage to locks or ships. That represents about 2 percent of the 700 times ships that have sailed through the expanded canal.
Pilots have argued they should be replaced with a system of floating bumpers (减震) like those used in some European locks. Officials say they plan to continue operating with the current system of defenses, but changes could happen in the future.
1.What is the difference between the new locks and the old ones?
A. The old locks don’t need rubber padding as defenses.
B. The new locks need tugboats tied to both sides of the ships.
C. The new locks are easier for the largest ships to pass through the canal.
D. The old locks need powerful engines to drag the ships through the canal.
2.What is the Panama Canal Authority’s attitude towards the expanded canal?
A. Cautious. B. Critical.
C. Positive. D. Doubtful.
3.What can we learn about the current system of defenses?
A. No ships shall rub against the canal walls to protect it.
B. Nothing will be done at present to improve it.
C. More training will be given to pilots for it.
D. A new system will replace it.
Not long ago, people thought babies were not able to learn things until they were five or six months old. Yet doctors in the United States say babies begin learning on their first day of life. Scientists note that babies are strongly influenced by their environment. They say a baby will smile if her mother does something the baby likes. A baby learns to get the best care possible by smiling to please her mother or other caregivers. This is how babies learn to connect and communicate with other human beings. One study shows that babies can learn before they are born. The researchers placed a tape recorder on the stomach of a pregnant woman. Then, they played a recording of a short story. On the day the baby was born, the researchers attempted to find if he knew the sounds of the story repeated while in his mother. They did this by placing a device in the mouth of the newborn baby.
The baby would hear the story if he moved his mouth one way. If the baby moved his mouth the other way, he would hear a different story. The researchers say the baby clearly liked the story he heard before he was born. They say the baby would move his mouth so he could hear the story again and again.
Another study shows how mothers can strongly influence social development and language skills in their children. Researchers studied the children from the age of one month to three years. The researchers attempted to measure the sensitivity of the mothers. The women were considered sensitive if they supported their children’s activities and did not interfere(干预) unnecessarily. They tested the children for thinking and language development when they were three years old. Also, the researchers observed the women for signs of depression. The children of depressed women did not do as well in tests as the children of women who did not suffer from depression. The children of depressed women did poorly in tests of language skills and understanding what they hear.
These children also were less cooperative and had more problems dealing with other people. The researchers noted that the sensitivity of the mothers was important to the intelligence development of their children. Children did better when their mothers were caring, even when they suffered from depression.
1.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT the factor that influences intelligence development in babies?
A. The environment. B. Their peers
C. Mother’s sensitivity D. Education before birth
2.What is the purpose of the experiment in which newborn babies heard the stories?
A. To prove that babies can learn on the first day they are born
B. To show mothers can strongly influence intelligence development in their babies
C. To indicate early education has a deep effect on the babies’ language skills
D. To prove that babies can learn before they are born
3.Which group of children did the worst in tests of language skills?
A. The children of women who did not suffer from depression
B. The children of depressed but caring mothers
C. The children of depressed mothers who cared little for their children
D. Children with high communication abilities
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Scientific findings about how intelligence develops in babies
B. Scientific findings about how babies develop before birth
C. Scientific findings about how time has an effect on babies’ intelligence
D. A study shows babies are not able to learn things until they are five or six months old
The English have a difficult and, generally speaking, dysfunctional (怪异的) relationship with clothes. Their main problem is that they have a desperate need for rules, and are unable to get along without them. This helps to explain why they have an international reputation for dressing in general very badly, but with specific areas of excellence, such as high-class men’s suits, ceremonial costumes, and innovative (革新的) street fashion. In other words, we English dress best when we are “in uniform”.
You may be surprised that I am including “innovative street fashion” in the category of the uniform. Surely the parrot-haired punks (朋克摇滚乐迷) or the Victorian vampire goths are being original, not following rules? It’s true that they all look different and eccentric (古怪的) but in fact they all look eccentric exactly in the same way. They are wearing a uniform. The only truly eccentric dresser in this country is the Queen, who pays no attention to fashion and continues to wear what she likes, a kind of 1950s fashion, with no regard for anyone else’s opinion. However, it is true that the styles invented by young English people are much more eccentric than any other nation’s street fashion. We may not be individually eccentric, apart from the Queen, but we have a sort of collective eccentricity, and \ye appreciate originality in dress even if we do not individually have it.
Another “rule” of behavior I had discovered was that it is very important for the English not to take themselves too seriously, to be able to laugh at themselves. However, it is well known that most teenagers tend to take themselves a bit too seriously.
The goths, in their scary black costumes, certainly look as if they are taking themselves seriously. But when I got into conversation with them, I discovered that they too had a sense of humor. I was once chatting to a goth in the full vampire costume—with a white face, deep purple lipstick, and black parrot-hair. I saw he was also wearing a T-shirt with “Goth”. “Why are you wearing that?” I asked. “In case you don’t realize I’m a goth.” he answered, pretending to be serious. We both burst out laughing.
1.What can we know about the English people?
A. They need rules to dress well. B. They are in need of uniforms.
C. They are creative in general. D. They lead the world trend.
2.Who is individually eccentric in dressing?
A. A high-class man. B. A parrot-haired punk.
C. The Queen. D. The fashion innovator.
3.Which of the following can best describe the goths?
A. They dress badly.
B. They dress in an amusing way.
C. They are unable to laugh at the way they dress.
D. They are less fashionable than the other English people.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A. How the English Dress
B. How the English Admire Fashion
C. Why the English Like Uniforms
D. Why the English Are Eccentric in Dress
In fairy tales, it's usually the princess that needs protecting. At Google in Silicon Valley, the princess is the one defending the castle. Parisa Tabriz is a 31-year-old with perhaps the most unique job title in engineering- “Google Security Princess”. Her job is to hack into the most popular web browser（浏览器）on the planet, trying to find weaknesses in the system before the “black hats” do. To defeat Google's attackers, Tabriz must firstly think like them.
Tabriz's role has evolved dramatically in the eight years since she first started working at Google. Back then, the young graduate from Illinois University was one of 50 security engineers---today there are over 500.
Cybercrime（网络犯罪）has come a long way in the past decade - from the Nigerian Prince Scam to credit card theft. Tabriz's biggest concern now is the people who find bugs in Google's software, and sell the information to governments or criminals. To fight against this, the company has set up a Vulnerability Rewards Program, paying anywhere from $100 to $ 20, 000 for reported mistakes.
It's a world away from Tabriz's computer-free childhood home in Chicago. The daughter of an Iranian-American doctor father, and Polish-American nurse mother, Tabriz had little contact with computers until she started studying engineering at college. Gaze across a line-up of Google security staff today and you'll find women like Tabriz are few and far between（稀少的）--- though in the last few years she has hired more female tech geniuses. She admits there's an obvious gender disequilibrium in Silicon Valley.
Funnily enough, during training sessions Tabriz first asks new colleagues to hack into not a computer, but a vending machine. Tabriz's job is as much about technological know-how（专门知识）as understanding the psychology of attackers.
1.What can we learn about Tabriz from the passage?
A. She was the first female engineer at Google.
B. She must think differently so as to defeat the attackers.
C. Her job relates to not only technology but also psychology.
D. Her frequent contact with computers in childhood benefits her a lot.
2.Why has Google set up a Vulnerability Rewards Program?
A. To protect Google against cybercrime.
B. To monitor the normal operation of Google.
C. To help the government locate the cybercriminals.
D. To raise people's awareness of personal information safety.
3.What does the underlined word “disequilibrium” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A. Imbalance. B. Preference.
C. Difference. D. Discrimination.
4.Which of the following could be the best title of this passage?
A. What leads to cybercrime
B. The “Security Princess” who guards Google
C. Measures taken by Google to protect its users
D. How to become an excellent security engineer
假如你是李华，在上海举办的“国际进口博览会”的志愿服务中，结识了加拿大人Terry，他回国后发邮件向你询问有关中文及中文学习方法。请你回复邮件，内容包括：
1、简介中文的国际地位。
2、学中文的建议（重视听、说、读、看、写......）。
3、望学好。
注意：1、词数100左右。
2、可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯
参考词汇：International Import Exposition
Dear Terry,
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
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Yours Sincerely,
Li Hua
假如英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改句子，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。句中共有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（∧ )，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线（\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下面划一横线,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。
While drive several days ago, I saw a cyclist fall off his bike. I stopped my car immediate. Seeing his face was bleeding, I take out my first aid pack and treated his injuries with cold packs and bandages. Thankfully he hadn’t been hurt his head. Then I offered him ride to the nearest clinic, so he refused. He said he could go to the doctor myself. I was glad that I had those supply in my car, where I had never used before. I’ll continue to keep the first aid pack in my car in case everything like this happens again.
