On 10 April 1912, an amazing, imposing new ocean liner steamed out of Southampton Harbour. 1. She was the largest ship in the world at that time, and the most luxurious. Her passengers included some of the wealthiest people in the world. Everyone agreed this beautiful new ship was the best liner in existence – in fact, she was said to be unsinkable.
The ship’s crew had absolute confidence in her. When, four days later, Captain Edward Smith gave his radio-men the order to transmit the international distress signal, SOS, they thought he was joking. He wasn’t. At 2.20 a.m. on 15 April 1912, the Titanic sank beneath the freezing waters of the Atlantic. 2.
It is still one of the biggest peacetime maritime tragedies in history.
On 14 April 2012, a passenger ship stopped in the North Atlantic. 3. It was cold and dark. 1,300 passengers stood on deck as a memorial service was held for the people who died there. After hymns and prayers, two wreaths of flowers were thrown into the freezing water.
The story of the Titanic has touched and fascinated people for over a century. Mistakes were made that added up to disaster. 4. There are records of generosity and courage that saved lives when so many others were lost. Millionaire Benjamin Guggenheim was offered one of the few places in a lifeboat, but said it should be given to a woman or a child, and chose instead to dress for dinner. Someone overheard him say ‘We’ve dressed up in our best and are prepared to go down like gentlemen!’ 5.The pure drama of the scene means that the legend of the Titanic will never be forgotten.
A. For example, the Titanic’s radio room received no fewer than seven ice warnings on the night of the tragedy.
B. It was twenty to midnight, the exact time that the Titanic hit the iceberg 100 years before.
C. Survivors recalled that the lights stayed on and the orchestra was playing until the moment the huge ship sank into the black water.
D. They arrived two hours later, but only 53 people were rescued from the water.
E. It was her first voyage and her destination was New York City – across the Atlantic Ocean.
F. On that night, over 1,500 people lost their lives.
G. The order to abandon ship was given and hundreds of people plunged into the icy water.
On the day the tornado(龙卷风) hit, there was no sign fierce weather was on its way— the sky was blue and the sun had been out. The first warning my husband, Jimmy, 67, and I, 65, got came around 9 p.m., from some text on the TV Jimmy was watching. He ran upstairs to find me in our third-floor bedroom, and we changed the channel from the national television to our local Pensacola, Florida, station.
Soon the tornado was on top of us. It was the loudest thing I have ever heard. The bones of the house shook, and the power went out. And the wind began to roar(咆哮) through the house, most likely through blown-out windows and the door to our garage. Everything was moving. And the back wall of the house came off and flew into the darkness outside. We had three flights of steps to get to the storeroom down there, the relative safety of the first floor.
I didn’t know how or if we would make it down the steps. It felt as if there were no floor underneath me as the wind lifted me off my feet. As we finally reached the last flight of steps, our front door blew out. Suddenly, a three-foot-long tree branch flew over our heads, missing us by inches.
By the time I reached the storeroom, the tornado had been over us for about a minute. Jimmy pushed me down to the storeroom floor, but he couldn’t get inside himself because of the wind. I held Jimmy’s arm as the tornado blew the door open. My knees were full of glass, but I felt no pain. If I had let go, Jimmy would have flown right out the back of the house.
All of a sudden, Jimmy lifted off his feet. I thought he was gone. And then everything stopped. He landed on his feet. In those first quiet moments, I couldn’t believe it was over. Our neighbor says the storm lasted four minutes. In that time, four of the twelve town houses in our unit were completely destroyed. Amazingly, none of us were seriously injured.
1.Where did the couple learn about the coming fierce weather?
A. From the dark sky. B. From the national station.
C. From the local news report. D. From the text sent by their neighbors.
2.What can we infer from paragraph 2 about the couple?
A. They were hit by a tree branch. B. They tried to get out of the house.
C. Their garage was blown to pieces. D. Their house was badly destroyed.
3.What do we know about Jimmy when the author reached the storeroom?
A. He was in great danger. B. He flew out of the house.
C. He was seriously injured. D. He got inside the storeroom.
单句填空
1.This is the most ______ (power) medicine to cure your illness.
2.They were ______ (trap) in the burning hotel.
3.Mrs. Coxen ______ (aid) in looking after the children by her niece.
4.Alan looked at him and said ______ (calm), “I don’t believe you.”
5.Please pass me the book ______ cover is green.
6.They were driving by the houses ______ Andy had described.
7.Do you know the people ______ live over the road?
8.He is such a good boy ______ everyone likes.
单词拼写
1.The electricity ______ (供应) had been cut off.
2.Grace ______ (轻敲) on the bedroom door and went in.
3.She ______ (吹口哨) to the dog to come back.
4.Tuesday was a fine, clear and ______ (平静的) day.
5.Dr. Fox went to the ______ (帮助)of the dying man despite having been injured in the crash.
6.The soldiers are trained to jump from the planes with full ______ (成套装备) on.
7.The volcano could ______ (爆发) at any time.
8.He has the ______ (控制) to make things very unpleasant for us.
假如你是李华，最近收到了你的美国朋友John的来信。他在信中说，他刚进入高中，不能适应新的环境，不知道如何去结交新朋友，因此情绪低落。请根据以下内容给他写一封建议信，回信应包括以下内容：
1.向John表示问候和安慰；
2.针对他的问题提出以下建议：
（1）放学后邀请同学一起参加活动；
（2）同学遇到麻烦时，要去帮助他们；
（3）自己遇到困难时要向他们求助。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.信的开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear John,
I am really sorry to hear that you feel bad after entering high school.
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Yours,
Li Hua
假设你是李华，你的英国笔友Jack刚刚升入高中，但他一时无法适应新的校园生活，写信向你征求建议。请你就此问题给他回一封建议信，内容主要包括：
1.实际上很多新生对于高中生活感到困惑，因此不必过多担心；
2.建议：
（1）报名参加课外活动，这有助于结交更多的新朋友；
（2）制作好学习日程安排，要特别关注学习，因为作为一名青少年，学习好是我们的责任。
3.希望建议能适合你。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jack,
I am sorry to hear that you’re having trouble adjusting to your high school life.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
