阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
It was a very foggy day in London. The fog was so thick that it was impossible to see more than 1.foot or so. Standing by the side of the road2. (be) buses, cars and taxies and were not able to run. People tried to find 3. (they) way on foot but got lost in the fog.
Mr. Smith had a very important meeting at the House of Commons but he was not familiar with the area and no one could take him there in such heavy fog. He tried to walk there only to find he was lost. Suddenly he ran4.a stranger, 5.asked if he needed some help. Mr. Smith said he wanted to get to the House of Commons 6. he couldn’t find the way. The strangertoldhim he could take him there.
Mr. Smith thanked him and they started to walk there. The fog was getting 7. (thick) but the stranger had no difficulty 8. (find) the way. They went along one street, turned down another,and crossed a square.At last,after about half an hour’s walk,they arrived at the House of Commons.Mr. Smith couldn’t understand 9.the stranger found his way in the thickfog.Soheasked the stranger. “It is no trouble at all to me,” said the stranger. “I am10.(total) blind.”
Last summer, I travelled to Meixian County with my friends. It is a small county at the foot of Taibai Mountain in Shanxi Province. We stayed there for one week and I____ my vacation because of the beautiful scenery at the top of the mountain.
I will____ forget the day when we climbed the main peak(山顶). The ____in that area changes very quickly: it was sunny in the early morning when we set out, ____ it began to rain heavily when we were only halfway up.
Soon,we were all____ and some of us wanted to go home. They said, “There is nothing____ here. We came to see the scenery,____the pouring rain！” However, the guide____, ”Since we have got wet already, why not just go on with our journey？”
So we carried on up the mountain and,____we even noticed, the rain stopped and the sun was smiling again. When we reached the top of the peak, the view was unique (独特的).
Up there, it was bright and clear. The sky was____and the air was fresh. The gentle wind made us feel cool. All the clouds were just like waves in the ocean, ____ and falling under our feet. We could only see the peaks of mountains, as if they were ____ floating sparsely (稀疏的) in the ocean. It was a really magical experience.
While we were enjoying the scene, the guide said ____,”You see, I knew that there would be no rain above the clouds.”
It is ____. While it may rain below the clouds, the sun is still there above them.
You will never see the sun ____ you don’t try your best to climb to the top of the mountain. If we had stopped and gone home when the rain was very heavy, we would never have seen the beautiful scenery ____ the clouds. I think this is also true in ____.
As the song says, “You won’t see the rainbow unless you have gone through the thunder and storm.” I think in the____, whenever I have any difficulties in my life, I will remember the____from the top of Taibai Mountain and the ____ which touched my heart deeply: There is no rain above the clouds.
1.A. spent B. killed C. had D. enjoyed
2.A. ever B. never C. certainly D. perhaps
3.A. scenery B. cloud C. sky D. weather
4.A. so B. while C. but D. instead
5.A. tired B. hungry C. angry D. wet
6.A. necessary B. fun C. important D. instructive
7.A. not B. no C. never D. hardly
8.A. suggested B. ordered C. asked D. demanded
9.A. when B. before C. while D. then
10.A. dark B. green C. black D. blue
11.A. jumping B. dropping C. going D. rising
12.A. islands B. fish C. animals D. waves
13.A. excited B. proudly C. angrily D. happily
14.A. false B. certain C. wrong D. true
15.A. when B. unless C. if D. while
16.A. over B. on C. above D. under
17.A. study B. rest C. world D. life
18.A. past B. present C. future D. life
19.A. weather B. change C. view D. time
20.A. word B. phrase C. speech D. sentence
The Advantages of Hobbies
Hobbies provide entertainment and a chance to continuously learn something new and develop a skill set.1.
Hobbies are praised as a key to stress reduction. Becoming lost in the mental concentration or physical action which you are deeply interested in helps you shift focus from the parts of life that are stressful.2.And in turn you are more peaceful when working on other work.
3.Many people set goals with their hobbies that provide them satisfaction when these goals have been achieved. These goals can be simple, like improving a golf score, writing a certain number of pages for a novel each day or seeing an entire collection of classic films.
Hobbies provide a sense of community when you meet other people who enjoy similar activities.4.More populated cities typically have numerous clubs or groups for people to share their knowledge and enthusiasm about a particular hobby. Becoming a member of one of these organizations allows greater growth within your hobby, as well as a chance to make new friends.
Having a hobby can develop a talent that makes a person feel proud and satisfied. For example, a tennis hobby developed at a young age can lead to a career as a professional athlete one day.5.For example, writer Vladimir Nabokov also collected butterflies, which allowed him to do better in his chosen fields because he used learned skills from one to improve the other.
A.Focusing on something enjoyable can calm the mind.
B.Hobbies also provide a sense of achievement.
C.Some hobbies affect other aspects of your life.
D.There are a variety of hobbies.
E.They also provide many other social and health benefits.
F.Having a hobby increases the chances to interact with like-minded people.
G.Some hobbies containing physical activities offer an enjoyable way to stay healthy.
A long-term American study shows the importance of early education for poor children. The study is known as the Abecedarian(初步的) Project. It involved more than one-hundred young children from poor families in North Carolina.
Half of the children attended an all-day program at a high-quality childcare center. The center offered educational, health and social programs. Children took part in games and activities to increase their thinking and language skills and social and emotional development. The program also included health foods for the children.
The children attended the program from when they were a few weeks old until the age of five years. The other group of children did not attend the childcare center. After the age of five, both groups attended public school.
Researchers compared the two groups of children. When they were babies, both groups had similar results in tests for mental and physical skills. However, from the age of eighteen months, the children in the educational child care program did much better in tests.
The researchers tested the children again when they were twelve and fifteen years old. The tests found that the children who had been in the childcare center continued to have higher average test results. These children did much better on tests of reading and mathematics.
A few years ago, organizers of the Abecedarian Project tested the students again. At the time, each student was twenty-one years old. They were tested for thinking and educational ability, employment, parenting and social skills. The researchers found that the young adults who had the early education still did better in reading and mathematics tests. They were more than two times as likely to go to college or to have completed college. In addition, the children who received early education were older on average, when their first child was born.
The study offers more evidence that learning during the first months and years of life is important for all later development.
The researchers of the Abecedarian Project believe their study shows a need for lawmakers to spend money on public early education. They believe these kinds of programs could reduce the number of children who do not complete school and are unemployed.
1.The Abecedarian Project has lasted ______.
A. almost one year B. about five years C. more than 20 years D. no more than 15 years
2.What do we know about the people who had been in the childcare center, compared with those who hadn’t?
A. They were more likely to go to college. B. They had children earlier．
C. They had the same results in tests. D. They are less sociable．
3.According to the passage, The Abecedarian Project__________.
A. involves children from rich families
B. doesn’t provide food for children
C. offers foreign teachers to help improve children’s language skills
D. studies the importance of an early education for poor children
4.What is NOT sure about the Abecedarian Project after reading the text?
A. How important early education is for poor children.
B. What the children learned at the child-care center.
C. How many children are involved in the Abecedarian Project.
D. Whether lawmakers will spend money on public early education.
The City of Christchurch, New Zealand was struck by a 7.1magnitude earthquake on the early morning of Saturday, September 4,2010.
No tsunami alert was reported. The country's army troops were on standby to assist victims and disaster recovery operation. New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key, flew to the affected area to inspect and assess the situation of the damaged city. The Prime Minister said that the full assessment of the damages would possibly take months to know the severity of damages. Based from his assessment on what he saw in the area, it could cost at least 2 billion New Zealand dollars or US$1.4 billion for reconstruction.
“An absolute miracle that no one died，” Prime Minister John Key said. Two were seriously injured from this quake and thousands of local residents were awakened after being shaken at 4:35 a.m. of that Saturday.
There were people trapped inside the damaged buildings but fortunately none were reported dead from the rubble of the damaged buildings.
“We're all feeling scared—we've just had some significant aftershocks，” a survivor told TV One News. “Tonight we're just people in the face of a massive natural disaster, trying to help each other and we're grateful we haven't lost a life.”
GNS Science reported 29 aftershocks within the 14 hours after the quake, with strength from magnitude 3.7 to 5.4.
New_Zealand_is_no_stranger_to_earthquakes. The country experiences more than 14,000 earthquakes a year—but only about 150 are felt by people.
“Many buildings here were built with earthquake protection measures. However, in most cities in developing countries, people build how they want to and there're no building controls to force them to build to a higher standard that's safe，” Andrew Charleson, an architecture professor at Victoria University of Wellington told CNN.
1.How many people were killed in the New Zealand earthquake on September 4, 2010?
A. 250,000. B. 29. C. 2. D. 0.
2.After the earthquake, all of the following occurred EXCEPT that ________.
A. a number of aftershocks broke out
B. army troops were there to help
C. no people were injured or killed
D. the full assessment of the damages can't take in a short time
3.What does the underlined sentence mean?
A. Earthquakes break out frequently in New Zealand.
B. The earthquakes breaking out in New Zealand are very strange.
C. The earthquakes breaking out in New Zealand are unusual.
D. Earthquakes rarely hit New Zealand.
4.What's the main idea of the passage?
A. No one was ever killed in earthquakes in New Zealand.
B. A massive earthquake struck the city of Christchurch of New Zealand.
C. New Zealand has strict laws to guarantee the buildings' safety.
D. A miracle happened in the terrible earthquake.
Jim Denevan is an amazing artist whose work is admired by all, but owned by none — that’s because all of Jim’s art is created on an unusual canvas(画布)— the soft sand. He sometimes spends days working on a piece, only to see it washed away by the sea or a storm and that is just the way he likes it.
Denevan discovered his artistic talents about ten years ago, when he was wandering aimlessly on the beach with a stick. He ended up drawing a 12-foot-long fish. Since then, Jim has traveled over 1,800 miles while creating over 600 pieces of sand art.
Over the years, his drawings have become bigger, but the tools he uses haven’t changed — All he needs is a stick, a garden rake (耙子)and most importantly, his lively imagination!
Just like any good artist, Jim is quite particular about the “quality” of his canvas, sometimes walking for miles, looking for perfect sand. His latest piece of work, which is also the world’s largest freelance (自由职业的)drawing, was created in the desert sand of Nevada. It took Jim three trips, eight days and over 100 miles of walking to create this 3-mile work of art. It took the storm just one night to destroy it! However, Jim says he actually enjoys watching the waves or rain, wash his paintings away.
Jim’s art has become very popular over the years and was even the topic of a documentary named “Sandman” in 2015. Jim Denevan is not just about art in the sand — he is also an excellent chef and founder of an organization called “Outstanding in the Field”, whose mottois to celebrate food at its source. Accordingly, group dining events are held outdoors on farms, with the diners being treated to a delicious meal. The events, which are held in different farms throughout America, are always sold out the minute the schedule is announced.
1.What do we know about Denevan?
A. He used to be a chef.
B. He has a talent for creating sand art.
C. He puts his work on show regularly.
D. He showed artistic talents at a very young age.
2.It can be learnt from the passage that ___________.
A. Denevan walks a lot to complete his work
B. it is not hard for Denevan to find suitable sand to draw on
C. it usually takes long for the storm to destroy Denevan’s work
D. Denevan is very particular about his drawing tools.
3.Which of the following can best describe Denevan?
A. Generous. B. Kind-hearted. C. Imaginative. D. Traditional.
4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
A. Denevan loses his interest in art soon.
B. Denevan is also popular as a chef.
C. Being a happy chef is Denevan’s final goal in life.
D. Denevan’s fame helps him with his chef job.
