阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
The airplane maker Airbus has announced plans 1. (quit) making its famous A380 airplane. The A380 is the world’s largest passenger airplane and 2. (be) in service for 12 years. People said it was the future of flying. However, 3. (shift) in the demands of passengers mean the days of huge, four-engine passenger planes are over. Airbus decided to stop 4. (produce) of the 541-seat A380. The decision was due to sales that were not 5. satisfying as expected. Airbus said it would no longer build the A380 in 2021. Significant job losses at companies linked to the plane will be 6. (necessary) caused.
The A380 first 7. (fly) in April 2005. Britain’s leader called it a unique symbol of economic strength while Spain’s leader called it a dream. The jets were designed to make airports less busy by reducing 8. number of planes which was on the increase in the sky. However, booming air travel brought the demand for twin-engine planes that can fly non-stop to 9. people want to travel. An Airbus spokesperson said the A380 was a “passenger magnet”, and he was 10. (disappoint) that airlines misunderstood and marketed it poorly.
I have a degree in business. But it was my father's_______for me to seek to attain a business _______He thought that having a business major would_______me more available choices and make me more_______in entering a global labor market. I_______his advice. However, even though my college experiences were_______,I had no interest in any_______0f commerce, let alone having a long-term career as a businesswoman.
After I_______，I worked as a marketing planner at a computer company. My_______and working environment were great; yet I________didn't feel happy doing something that held little ________for me. After two months of working there, I made up my mind to________and decided to do what I love, namely________history.I have now been doing this job for over twenty years.I am ________of being with my students.
If you are in a________Where you don't love what you are learning or doing, please ask yourself what you are really________about, and what you truly want for your life. Don't________to get yourself a quick answer. Take some time to think about what career could bring________to you.
I like this motto "Success is not the key to happiness.________happiness is the key to success."
Happiness________the inside of you, not from the outside. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
1.A.ambition B.commitment C.decision D.response
2.A.experience B.position C.activity D.major
3.A.guarantee B.save C.leave D.pass
4.A.independent B.competitive C.energetic D.flexible
5.A.ignored B.valued C.took D.opposed
6.A.fantastic B.awkward C.painful D.plain
7.A.paper B.field C.college D.job
8.A.matured B.graduated C.succeeded D.trained
9.A.future B.dream C.scholarship D.pay
10.A.only B.also C.still D.even
11.A.advantage B.appeal C.chance D.trouble
12.A.quit B.continue C.consider D.wait
13.A.promoting B.writing C.teaching D.studying
14.A.fond B.tired C.proud D.careful
15.A.firm B.game C.story D.place
16.A.anxious B.optimistic C.enthusiastic D.nervous
17.A.rush B.hesitate C.intend D.stop
18.A.love B.joy C.confidence D.knowledge
19.A.As a result B.On the whole C.In the meanwhile D.On the contrary
20.A.applies to B.spreads to C.differs from D.arises from
Earlier this year I removed all Internet services from my home, which was very upsetting at first, but I have lived that way. 1.
I was not content with the time I was wasting—I felt I could do more purposeful things than spend it on the Internet. If there is something I want to research on the Internet. I write it down and use that list when I have Internet access, 2. I’ll go to the office, the library, the coffee shop, or some other place with free public Wi-Fi, and work on what I need to do online.
3. I log on (登录) to watch some videos or laugh at funny pictures, but I go on the Internet with the intention of doing these things. Whenever I’m on the Internet now, I use it in a deliberate way, a way that benefits me and my life, and a way that adds value.
4. I could focus on writing without being disturbed. I have more time to read, to write, to think, to exercise and to walk. Because I’ m out of the house and there are people around. I meet new people. Additionally, I have more time for friends and I feel less stressed and my thoughts are clearer. My mind is more focused on important things. 5. Plus, I no longer long for the Internet like I once did.
It will be upsetting at first, but you will live, and your life will be better without it.
A. I don ’t have a monthly Internet bill.
B. Now the Internet is a tool I use to improve my life.
C. Now I’m forced to leave the house to get the Internet.
D. This doesn’t mean I think the Internet is bad or wrong.
E. Since I got rid of the Internet at home I’ve found so many benefits.
F. Here are some of my tips to use the Internet in a more productive way.
G. It ended up being the most productive and wisest decision I’ve ever made.
Pigeons in London have a bad reputation. Some people call them flying rats. And many blame them for causing pollution with their droppings. But now the birds are being used to fight another kind of pollution in this city of 8.5 million.
“The problem for air pollution is that it’s been largely ignored as an issue for a long time,” says Andrea Lee, who works for the London-based environmental organization Client Earth. “People don’t realize how bad it is, and how it actually affects their health.” London’s poor air quality is linked to nearly 10,000 early deaths a year. Lee says, citing(引用)a report released by the city manager last year. If people were better informed about the pollution they’ re breathing, she says, they could pressure the government to do something about it.
Nearby, on a windy hill in London’s Regent’s Park, an experiment is underway that could help—the first week of flights by the Pigeon Air Patrol. It all began when Pierre Duquesnoy, the director for DigitasLBi, a marketing firm, won a London Design Festival contest last year to show how a world problem could be solved using Twitter. Duquesnoy, from France, chose the problem of air pollution.
“Basically, I realized how important the problem was,” he says. “But also I realized that most of the people around me didn’t know anything about it.” Duquesnoy says he wants to better measure pollution, while at the same time making the results accessible to the public through Twitter.
“So”, he wondered, “how could we go across the city quickly collecting as much data as possible?” Drones were his first thought. But it’s illegal to fly them over London. “But pigeons can fly above London, right?” he says. “They live—actually, they are Londoners as well. So, yeah, I thought about using pigeons equipped with mobile apps. And we can use not just street pigeons, but racing pigeons, because they fly pretty quickly and pretty low.”
So it might be time for Londoners to have more respect for their pigeons. The birds may just be helping to improve the quality of the city’s air.
1.What can we infer about London’s air quality from Paragraph 2?
A.Londoners are very satisfied with it.
B.The government is trying to improve it.
C.Londoners should pay more attention to it.
D.The government has done a lot to improve it.
2.Duquesnoy attended the London Design Festival to _________.
A.entertain Londoners. B.solve a world problem.
C.design a product for sale. D.protect animals like pigeons.
3.Why did Duquesnoy give up using drones to fly across London?
A.Because they are too expensive. B.Because they fly too quickly.
C.Because they are forbidden. D.Because they fly too high.
4.Which can be the best title for the text?
A.Clean air in London. B.London’s dirty secret.
C.London’s new pollution fighter. D.Causes of air pollution in London.
Cortana, Alexa ,Siri ,These are names of robotic voices that are often programmed on electronic tablets. They also become default (默认) identities for people with speech disorders who rely on technology to communicate. Now some speech scientists are developing personalized voices to reflect the broader diversity of the people who use them. To do it, they are tapping into a vast network of volunteers who are donating their voices to share with people who can’t speak.
The effort to build an international “Human Voicebank” has attracted more than 17,000 volunteers from 110 countries, including Priyanka Pandya, a 16-year-old from Columbia, Md., who plans to spend her winter vacation recording a string of sentences into her computer “To be able to give somebody the gift of voice, I think that’s really, really powerful,” she said.
“Everyone has a voice,” said Rupal Patel, founder of VocaliD, the company that started the voicebank. “Even people who are unable to speak have sounds that are unique to them.” Her company designs personalized voices by recording the unique sounds of the user, and then mixing them with 6 to 10 hours of recordings from a voice donor, matched by age, gender and region. The company is developing voices now for its first 100 customers.
Also, people’s voices change. The company is looking for donors who are willing to record their voices, and then record them again a few years later, as they get older.
Some of the first customers say they are happy with the results, John A. Gregoire was one of the first customers to receive a personalized voice from Vocalid last December. The voice came eight years after he developed ALS (肌萎缩侧索硬化症) and more than six years have passed since his voice became unintelligible to everyone except his wife and youngest son. “Having a distinctive voice is like getting something back that was stolen.” John said.
1.What can we know about the voicebank?
A.It collects all kinds of voices.
B.It gains strong public support.
C.It helps to recognize special voices.
D.It offers people personalized voices free.
2.What does the example of John A. Gregoire stress?
A. Customers' desire for personalized voices.
B.VocaliD's efforts to develop personalized voices.
C.Customers'satisfaction with personalized voices.
D.VocaliD's success in designing personalized voices.
3.What does the underlined word “unintelligible” mean in the last paragraph?
A.Unclear. B.Soft.
C.Incomplete. D.Rough.
4.What is the main idea of the text?
A.Volunteers donate their voices to VocaliD.
B.Vocalic is devoted to building a voicebank.
C.The Human Voicebank wins fame among people with speech.
D.The Human Voicebank helps people with speech problems.
In beautiful rural Montana lies the town of Livingston. Around half the students in the Livingston School District qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, according to local educator Rachael Jones, known as “Farmer Jones”. She is the director of the Livingston Farm to School program, which uses the district’s two greenhouses and four gardens to grow food that supplements (补充) school meals while offering kids hands-on lessons. Jones said, “In many places around the country, if you can t pay for your school meal, you don’t eat. Well, here, we don’t turn anyone away.”
The town’s school district and community members started the program eight years ago. It was part of the National Farm to School Network, which aims to increase access to local food and nutrition education across the country. Jones, who attended public school in Livingston as a kid, has headed up the local program since 2014. Farm to School enriches curriculums in all of the schools through garden lessons, cafeteria and kitchen lessons, and classroom lessons.
Research has shown that healthy school meals can better academic performance, including improved test scores. Though the Farm to School program is not aimed only at lower-income students, Jones said, “Such kids are more likely to eat lunch provided by the school.” Eventually she wants to get healthy, affordable meals on the plate of every child in Livingston.
It is important for kids to understand where their food comes from. That’s a life-changing experience for them. Jones said, “When I grew up a big force in my life was my grandma Ethel. She taught me from a really early age the value of growing my own food. I worked in her gardens with her and somehow, through all of those experiences—eating her tomatoes and canning pickles (泡菜) with her—it really built up my trust and knowledge in food systems. I’m so thankful to her!”
1.Who is “Farmer Jones” according to the text?
A.A local farmer. B.A community volunteer.
C.A teacher in a local school. D.a student in a local school
2.Why is the Livingston Farm to School program set?
A.To offer students food and lessons.
B.To help local farmers make a living.
C.To provide part-time jobs for students.
D.To improve local environmental protection.
3.What can we know from Paragraph 3?
A.The program was short of money.
B.Students were facing health problem.
C.The program offered all students free meals.
D.Students’ study performance progresses due to healthy meals.
4.What makes Jones so confident in food system?
A.Her grandma’s suggestions. B.Her childhood experiences.
C.Her college education. D.Her healthy lifestyles.
