In summer the extreme heat often makes people sweaty and restless. While people are annoyed by it, experts suggest summer is the best season to discharge (排放) your body’s toxins (毒素) and recover your energy.
One popular option is hot-stone massage (按摩). Therapists use smooth and heated stones, usually river rocks, to massage certain parts of the body, or place them on key points of the body. The warmth of the hot stones will improve blood circulation and also help relax muscles, while sweating is also believed to be good for discharging the body’s toxins.
Another popular option is hot-stone baths. The hot-stone bath will help the body discharge toxins and humidity that accumulated during the last winter. Summer is the best season to build a good body. Rather than use water or steam to heat and wash the body, people simply wear a coat or something comfortable, and then lie on heated stone tablets made of hot stones, which are warmed to around 45oC. The body will gradually warm up and blood circulation will also be improved. More sweat will come out quickly. The sweat is smooth and fresh, not smelly like that released after sports activities. Such baths bring a number of health benefits, such as anti-aging, improved blood circulation and stress relief. The slimming effect of dieting can even be promoted.
Using hot stones for healing dates back to ancient times, but the modern renewal of hot-stone massage is generally credited to Mary Nelson, a native of Tucson, Arizona, America, whose trademark is “LaStone Therapy”.
The therapy is gaining wide popularity with many people, especially those who have jobs in cool air-conditioned rooms. The hot-stone therapy can help cure many diseases, including back pain.
1.What do people use to release toxins in our body according to the text?
A.Washing the body with cold water.
B.Discharging lots of sweat.
C.Relaxing muscles
D.Lying on the warm beds.
2.What can we know from the text?
A.Sports have greater effects on the health than hot-stone massage.
B.There are no toxins and humidity in the body in summer.
C.Using water of about 45oC to wash the body is good for the health.
D.People should take advantage of summer to improve their health.
3.What can be learned about the hot-stone therapy?
A.It was invented by Mary Nelson, an American.
B.It successfully cured many people of cancer.
C.It is popular with people with its excellent effects.
D.It can help people avoid sweating too much in hot summer.
4.Which of the following could be the best title for the text?
A.The origin and development of the hot-stone therapy
B.The amazing functions of the hot-stone therapy
C.A healthy and comfortable lifestyle
D.How to live comfortably in summer
Public transport is declining in the rich world. To those who have to squeeze onto the number 25 bus in London, or the A train in New York, the change might not be noticeable. But public transport is becoming less busy in those places, and passenger numbers are flat or falling in almost every American city. That is despite healthy growth in urban populations and employment.
Although transport agencies blame their unpopularity on things like roadworks and broken signals, it seems more likely that they are being outcompeted. App-based taxi services like Uber and Lyft are more comfortable and convenient than trains or buses. Cycling is nicer than it was, and rental bikes are more widely available. Cars are cheap to buy, thanks to cut-rate loans, and ever cheaper to run. Online shopping, home working and office-sharing mean more people can avoid travelling altogether.
The competition is only likely to grow. More than one laboratory is developing new transport technologies and applications. Silicon Valley invented Uber and, more recently, apps that let people rent electric scooters(滑板车) and then abandon them on the pavement. China created sharing-bicycles and battery-powered "e-bikes", both of which are spreading.
Transport agencies should accept the upstarts, and copy them. Cities tend either to ignore app-based services or to try to push them off the streets. That is understandable, given the rules-are-for-losers attitude of firms like Uber. But it is an error.
It is doubtful that most people make hard distinctions between public and private transport. They just want to get somewhere, and there is a cost in time, money and comfort. An ideal system would let them move across a city for a single payment, transferring from trains to taxis to bicycles as needed. Building a platform to allow that is hard, and requires much sweet-talking of traditional networks as well as technology firms. It is probably the secret to keeping cities moving.
1.What is the change in public transport in big cities?
A. It is becoming busier.
B. It is getting less popular.
C. There are fewer traffic delays.
D. There is more new transport.
2.In the author’s opinion, the reason for the decline of public transport is that ______.
A. there are roadworks and broken signals
B. people are becoming healthier and employed
C. cars and bikes are more and more available
D. transport agencies are seemingly less competitive
3.How does the author develop his idea in Paragraph 3?
A. By giving examples
B. By providing research results
C. By stating arguments
D. By comparing different approaches
4.According to the text, the key to keeping cities moving is ____________.
A. to develop an ideal system that satisfies everyone
B. to build a platform that appeals to transport agencies
C. to provide people with more means of transportation
D. to cater for both traditional networks and technology firms
Charlie is a teacher and his wife, Maria is an artist. The night before last, just before the longest day of the year, Charlie was sitting in a deckchair enjoying the warm summer air when Maria touched his shoulder and he could tell immediately she was a little worried about something. He asked her what the matter was and she replied that there was a strange thing on the jacket that was hanging in the bedroom. They had both lived in the West Indies (西印度群岛) and had seen a lot of strange creatures in their house before. But now they were living in England and so Charlie just laughed and said he would have a look at the “thing”.
He walked to the bedroom. He saw a jacket hanging in the bedroom and went up to it to have a closer look at the “thing”. The moment he touched it, the thing sprang into life. Now Charlie experiences fear like the rest of us but when this creature opened its wings, he jumped out of his skin and ran screaming from the room like a small child doing about 100 miles an hour.
For a moment the next-door neighbours thought that Charlie was murdering his wife because of the noise they could hear. In fact, it was a bat that frightened Charlie.
Eventually Charlie managed to trap the bat in a box and took it to the garden to let the bat fly. Maria, who had been playing the guitar while Charlie was upstairs, asked Charlie if he had found out what the thing was. “Oh, nothing to worry about”, he said casually hoping that the terror could not be seen in his eyes, “it was just a bat.”
1.Why was Maria a little worried one night?
A.Because she couldn't find her guitar. B.Because she saw something strange.
C.Because it was too hot for her. D.Because she had quarreled with her husband.
2.The underlined part “jumped out of his skin” in the second paragraph probably means ____.
A.stood up B.was very frightened
C.threw off his clothes D.was very excited
3.What happened to the bat?
A.It was killed by Charlie. B.It was badly wounded.
C.It was set free by Charlie. D.It was kept as a pet.
4.It can be inferred that ________.
A.Charlie was afraid that his wife would laugh at him if she knew the truth
B.the neighbours would report to the police about Charlie murdering the bat
C.the bat wouldn't come to Charlie's room again because it was frightened
D.Maria heard her husband screaming downstairs and became frightened
Bored? Lonely? Out of condition? Why not try the SPORTS CENTER?
TENNIS
Indoor and outdoor courts. Coaching from beginners to advanced. Children only. Mornings.
SKIING
Gentle slopes. 3 levels instructors at weekends and Fridays. Daytime practice.
8-year-old upwards.
SWIMMING
2 pools, heated, Olympic length.
Women: Tuesday and Thursday.
Men: Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Children: Saturday.
GOLF
9 hole practice course. Professional Coaching. Lessons must be booked in advance in daytime. Evening practice. Minimum age — 9 years.
GYMNASTICS
Maximum age —18 years.
Children aged 5-10. Mondays and Wednesdays. 4:00-6:00 p.m.
10—18 year olds. Friday evenings.
AND MANY MORE
Table Tennis, Snooker (台球), Darts (标枪), Café (all day), Bar (lunch time and evenings), Nursery (weekdays and weekends, not evenings).
Centre open 10:00 a.m.—10:00 p.m. Daily.
Interested? More details, call 800-1234-5678.
1.What is this advertisement mainly about?
A. It shows us some ways to spend weekends.
B. It shows us a lot of ways to spend our holidays.
C. It shows the ways of saving our time.
D. It shows us a place to relax ourselves.
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to this passage?
A. People can play tennis day and night.
B. People under 20 can all take gymnastics.
C. Children at any age can play golf in the SPORTS CENTER.
D. Men and women swim in the SPORTS CENTER separately.
3.How many sports events are mentioned in the passage?
A. 8 B. 6. C. 5 D. 11.
书面表达
假如你是李华，最近你从报纸上看到一家涉外酒店招聘暑期兼职工的广告，请你根据下列要点提示写一封应聘信。
1.李华，女，18岁，身体健康。
2.擅长英语，口语流利。
3.性格外向，交际能力强。
注意：
1.词数120左右。
2.书信格式已经给出，不计入总词数。
3.可以适当拓展。
Dear Sir or Madame,
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
Yours，
Li Hua
假如英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号∧，并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线＼划掉。
修改：在错词下面划一横线，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。
The other day, I was invited my friend Sam’s home for dinner. I felt a bit surprising when I saw Bill there. It was two month since we two had quarreled, so I was embarrassed and didn’t know how to do. I sat down on the sofa but began to watch TV. Later Sam came to ask me to make up with Bill. Until then I realize that Sam had arranged the meeting on purpose. He went up to Bill and greeted him warmly, smiled at him. He looked very happily and talked with me excitedly. That night, we had a great fun together.
1.2.3.4.5.
6.7.8.9.10.
