Bright Side did some research on many places throughout the world where you can buy a house for 1 dollar or for free!
Roubaix, France
If you like France, Roubaix located in the north of France is just for you. The local authorities want it to be populated and attractive. You can buy a small house in the industrial district for just $1. The buyer is supposed to live in this house for 3 years.
Buffalo. USA
Buffalo offers whoever qualifies to buy a house for $1. All you need is to be a lawful citizen of the city and invest amount of money into its decoration. Doing this, the authorities are hoping to make the city beautiful again without spending money.
Liverpool, Great Britain
In Liverpool, most of houses were abandoned by the working class during the years of unemployment. The government is trying to sell the houses for just $1. If you want to buy such a house, it has to be your first deal on buying property (不动产).
Candela, Italy
If you still have any doubts about spending SI on a house, you should know: the government will pay you some money, if you move to Candela. In order to be paid, you need to become a permanent citizen and have an income of $7500 per year. If moving a, ne, you will get S800, and if you are going with your family, the pay can be four times as much as only one person.
For more information of other cities, please Click Here.
1.Why do the authorities of Buffalo provide a house for people with 1$?
A. To improve the lives of poor people.
B. To make the city attractive at no cost.
C. To solve the problems of employment.
D. To attract people to the industrial areas.
2.What is required to buy a house for 1 dollar in Liverpool?
A. You need to be an unemployed citizen.
B. You should live in the house for 3 years.
C. You must make the first house purchase.
D. You have to repair and decorate the house.
3.How much money can you get if moving to Candela with a whole family?
A. $3200 B. $1
C. $800 D. $7500
4.Where does this passage come from?
A. a textbook. B. a magazine.
C. the Internet. D. an announcement.
假设你是晨光中学学生李津，你的美国朋友Chris从某网站得知中国外交部在4月16日为天津举办了主题为“新时代的中国：活力天津，走向世界”全球推介活动，希望你能介绍相关情况。为了让Chris更好的了解天津，请根据以下提示给他写一封电子邮件。
（1）简单介绍“外交部天津全球推介活动”引起的反响；
（2）介绍天津风景名胜和丰富多彩的历史文化；
（3）希望他有机会来访天津。
参考词汇：中国外交部MFA
Dear Chris,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Jin
阅读短文，并按照题目要求用英语回答问题。
After we all came to the conclusion that our family could responsibly care for a dog, my husband and I started our search at a local animal shelter.
We discovered a medium-sized male dog named Duke. This dog was approximately only two years old and seemed to have the sweetest character. He looked at us through intelligent eyes and already knew how to fetch a ball. My husband and I immediately adopted him Duke quickly fit into our family's lifestyle . And he quickly learned the tricks like “sit”，“stay”，and “come”.
But there was one skill that Duke could not seem to grasp — that of a watchdog. My husband was trying to teach him to remind us by giving a single warning bark when someone came into the yard. Duke would listen carefully to my husband's commands, but would cock (竖起) his head to one side in confusion and disappointment as if to tell his master that he just didn't understand what my husband was asking him to do. My husband would give his “watch” command. Duke would stand up -- muscles tightened in readiness, but would not have a clue as to what he was in readiness for.
One morning we heard the garbage collectors come up the driveway to get our garbage. My husband went to the open bedroom window so Duke could hear and see the men through the screen .
“Watch!” my husband commanded. Duke rose up in readiness, looked at my husband as sudden comprehension dawned on him, gave a quick tail wave, and leaped through the window screen, jumping happily out to greet the garbage men.
Seeing that, I couldn't help laughing. My laughter did nothing for my husband's mood when he found what was happening and he just went away to repair the screen with no expression on his face.
Duke brought our family so much fun. We never scolded or beat him. He was one of our family members.
1.What was Duke like when the author adopted him? (no more than l0 words)
2.What did Duck learn after being adopted by the author's family? (no more than 15 words)
3.What is the meaning of the underlined part in Paragraph 5? (no more than 10 words)
4.How did the author and her husband feel about Duke's leaping through the window? (no more than 10 words)
5.How do you think people should treat their pets? (no more than 20 words)
Albert Einsein said，“Only a life lived for others is worth living.”
How does this job offer sound? You’ll need to be available on short notice，including late at night and on weekends. You could be asked to do anything from helping at community events to responding to life-threatening emergencies (sometimes putting your own safety at risk). This job also involves a lot of regular training. Oh, and you won't be paid for any of this. Would you take the job?
This job might not necessarily appeal to everyone, but if this sounds like an opportunity you’d eagerly accept，then you’d fit right in with Western Australia’s 26,000 emergency service volunteers. The emergency services aren't the only industry benefiting from volunteers. Across both Australia and America, between a quarter and half of the population volunteer each year in areas including education, sports, health, religion, and social services.
What motivates people to volunteer? Yes, volunteers don't get paid. But it doesn't mean people don't get benefits from volunteering. Indeed, research shows there are significant mental health benefits coming with volunteering. It can be a means to make new friends, build new skills or try things out of your comfort zone. It can also be a means to help loved ones. A case is someone close to me who recently lost her husband to a disease. When her husband was admitted to a nursing facility, she decided to volunteer for the patient advocacy committee. She found great support and felt she could make a difference in the lives of the patients. After her husband's passing, she decided to continue volunteering for the committee not only as a way to show gratitude for the great care her husband received but also because she made friends there. She found a way to put her career skills to use for the common good and keep active after retirement.
There are countless ways to volunteer. No matter how you do it, it is definitely worth every minute you put into it.
1.If we are committed to “this job” described in Para. 2, we are _______.
A. always in danger of losing our lives
B. on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
C. busy providing first-aid training in communities
D. going to work on weekends and rest on weekdays
2.What does the author mainly tell us in the third paragraph?
A. Not everyone is fit to be a volunteer.
B. Many industries in the world need volunteers.
C. Many emergency services exist in Western Australia.
D. Many people devote themselves to volunteering in Australia and America.
3.We can come to the conclusion that volunteering _______.
A. is a win-win situation
B. benefits both the body and the mind
C. spreads quickly among people
D. is hard to stick to without rewards
4.The author's friend kept volunteering after her husband's death _________.
A. for her interest to learn career skills
B. to stay helpful and related to people
C. as a means to get over her great loss
D. because it was her husband's last will
5.What is the author's purpose in writing this passage?
A. To encourage volunteering.
B. To advertise a job opportunity.
C. To express gratitude to volunteers.
D. To give advice on volunteering.
In some islands north of Scotland, if head lice (头虱) left their host, he became sick and feverish. Therefore, sick people had lice put in their hair intentionally. There was a method in their madness： As soon as the lice had settled in again, the patient improved. The story explains the confusion of cause and effect. If the lice leave the sick host, it is because he has a fever and they simply get hot feet，and when the fever breaks，they return. Such false causality (假因果关系）misleads us every day.
Consider the headline: “Fact: Women Who Use Shampoo XYZ Every Day Have Stronger Hair.” It says very little -- least of all, that the shampoo makes your hair stronger. It might simply be the other way round: women with strong hair tend to use Shampoo XYZ -- and perhaps that’s because it says “especially for thick hair” on the bottle.
Another example: Scientists found that long periods in the hospital did harm to patients. But, clearly, patients who are dismissed immediately are healthier than those who must stay on for treatment.
Recently I read that students get better grades at school if their homes contain many books. This study was surely a shot in the arm for booksellers, but it was also false causality. This simple truth is that educated parents tend to value their children's education more than uneducated ones do, and they often have more books at home. In short, a dust-covered copy War and Peace alone isn't going to influence anyone's grades; what counts is parents' education levels, as well as their genes.
There was also the supposed relationship between the birth rate and the numbers of stork (鹳）pairs in Germany. Both were in decline, and if you plot (描绘） them on a graph (曲线图)，the two lines of development from 1965 to 1987 appeared almost the same. Does this mean the storks actually bring babies? Obviously not. This was a purely accidental connection.
In conclusion: Connection is not causality. Take a closer look at linked events: Sometimes what is presented as the cause turns out to be the effect, or just the other way round， and sometimes there is no link at all -- just like with storks and babies.
1.According to the first paragraph, people in some islands north of Scotland _________.
A. found a way to get rid of head lice
B. used an effective method to keep flt
C. made head lice a part of their life
D. died due to infections with head lice
2.Which is an example of false causality?
A. Women with strong hair tend to use a certain shampoo.
B. The birth rate and the stork population are connected.
C. Longer periods in the hospital benefit patients.
D. Lice can make a person sick and feverish.
3.The underlined phrase “ a shot in the arm” in Paragraph 4 means _______.
A. pain B. defeat
C. guidance D. encouragement
4.According to the author, students get better grades probably because ______.
A. their homes are full of books
B. they have read War and Peace
C. their educated parents value education
D. their parents are successful booksellers
5.We can draw the conclusion from the passage that _______.
A. connection arc pure accidents
B. cause and effect are interdependent
C. connections are mostly cause and effect
D. linked events may turn out to be unrelated
The Governor’s School is described as a unique opportunity for high school students to involve themselves in math, science, and technology. When I signed up for computer programming, I expected to learn about coding (编程). However, what I didn’t expect was that I would also learn how to build strong friendships.
Just before I went there, I didn't know what to expect in the school, feeling quite at a loss. A sense of uncertainty about my future was flooding over me. On the first day, the students awkwardly moved around at the opening ceremonies. Although it is embarrassing to admit, I hadn't been able to succeed in my friendship in the past because I was too focused on myself. This time, I got rid of the desire to share personal stories and instead was eager to ask others about themselves.
After sunset on the second night, I heard three girls trying to recall the schedule for an upcoming museum trip. After effective communication, I knew they were Bree, Megan and Avery. Bree and Avery were in environmental science， and Megan was studying mathematics.
We had a lot in common among us four, such as our love for movies, which strengthened our friendships. Meanwhile, we were able to introduce each other to new activities. Bree introduced us to anime (日本动漫). Enthusiastically, Megan encouraged us to play tennis. Avery and I kept the other two motivated to work out at the gym. The fact that none of us was particularly skilled with equipment resulted in shared laughter almost every day.
After four weeks, I left with the ability to successfully code an educational computer game. More importantly, I also left with knowledge about the code of friendship -- the fact that I could make more friends in a month by showing interest in them than I could in a year by trying to attract others’ interest in me.
1.The author went to the Governor's School to originally learn how to _______.
A. code computer programs
B. make friends with others
C. develop her personal hobby and interest
D. share her personal stories with others
2.The author had failed in her friendship mainly because _________.
A. she was embarrassed to stay with her friends
B. she cared little about others
C. she longed to know about others
D. she focused her attention on her study
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Avery studied mathematics in the school.
B. The four girls had a wonderful time at school.
C. Though the four girls had nothing in common, they became good friends.
D. Before going to the Governor's School, the author had the basic knowledge about computers.
4.According to the author, the success code of friendship is _____.
A. getting others to be interested in her
B. adding more laughter to others’ life
C. keeping others motivated by stories
D. becoming more interested in others
5.What does the author tell us in the passage?
A. Her interest in the Governor’s School.
B. A close relation with three schoolmates.
C. Her experience in the Governor’s School.
D. Big changes in her study.
