How is this virus transmitted?
This is an outbreak of disease that started in Wuhan, one of the central Chinese cities. It’s caused by a novel coronavirus that means it’s brand-new. 1.
What are the symptoms?
The virus is from a family called the coronaviruses. The symptoms of this illness are pretty mundane (平 凡的) on the face of it: it’s a dry cough fever and then breathing problems. 2. However, as for the more severe cases, people have gone on to develop viral pneumonia, and all the deaths have been among those people.
3.
This brand-new coronavirus came from animals, and it’s believed that the source was actually a seafood market in Wuhan, which also sells wild animals. So far all the cases have come out of Wuhan. But some people haven’t picked it up there.
Should I be panicking about this outbreak?
As we can see, older people are ending up in hospital with the virus. They’re usually over 40, and the very youngest person diagnosed is about 13 or 14 years old. So it doesn’t appear to be affecting small children.
4.. Basically, their immune systems are not very strong, and they’re going to find it very hard to fight off a virus.
It’s necessary for ordinary people to wear masks and doctors should wear protective clothing.
How is this virus transmitted?
We’ve only just discovered that the new coronavirus is actually transmitted from one person to another. It was hoped at first actually that it just came from animals as all coronaviruses do. 5. .So we’ve got people to people transmission, because the market has been closed for sometime, and there are cases in people who’ve never been near it.
A.It seems quite mild in lots of people.
B.Where have cases been confirmed so far?
C.It is so new that actually it doesn’t have a name yet.
D.People diagnosed with viral pneumonia will die.
E.It is a brand-new virus so we don’t know how it’s going to behave.
F.Those confirmed cases who have died tend to have heart disease or cancer already.
G.Now it looks as though it is actually passed from one human being to another, however.
While many of us may have been away somewhere nice last summer, few would say that we’ve “summered.” “Summer” is clearly a noun, more precisely, a verbed noun.
Way back in our childhood, we all learned the difference between a noun and a verb. With such a tidy definition, it was easy to spot the difference. Not so in adulthood, where we are expected to “foot” bills, “chair” committees, and “dialogue” with political opponents. Chances are you didn’t feel uncomfortable about the sight of those verbed nouns.
“The verbing of nouns is as old as the English language,” says Patricia O’Conner, a former editor at The New York Times Book Review. Experts estimate that 20 percent of all English verbs were originally nouns. And the phenomenon seems to be snowballing. Since 1900, about 40 percent of all new verbs have come from nouns.
Even though conversion (转化) is quite universal, plenty of grammarians object to the practice. William Strunk Jr. and E.B.White, in The Elements of Style — the Bible for the use of American English — have this to say: “Many nouns lately have been pressed into service as verbs. Not all are bad, but all are suspect.” The Chicago Manual of Style takes a similar standpoint, advising writers to use verbs with great care.
“Sometimes people object to a new verb because they resist what is unfamiliar to them,” says O’Conner. That’s why we’re comfortable “hosting” a party, but we might feel upset by the thought of “medaling” in sports. So are there any rules for verbing? Benjamin Dreyer, copy chief at Random House, doesn’t offer a rule, but suggests that people think twice about “verbifying” a noun if it’s easily replaceable by an already existing popular verb. Make sure it’s descriptive but not silly-sounding, he says.
In the end, however, style is subjective. Easy conversion of nouns to verbs has been part of English grammar for centuries; it is one of the processes that make English “English.” Not every coinage (新创的词语) passes into general use, but as for trying to end verbing altogether, forget it.
1.What can we learn about the verbing of nouns?
A.It hasn’t recently been opposed by many grammarians.
B.It is more commonly accepted by children than adults.
C.It hasn’t been a rare phenomenon in the past century.
D.It is easily replaced by existing verbs in practice
2.What is most leading experts’ attitude towards the practice of the verbing of nouns?
A.Cautious. B.Satisfied.
C.Disappointed. D.Unconcerned.
3.What does the author think of ending the verbing of nouns?
A.Predictable. B.Practicable.
C.Approaching. D.Impossible.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Are 40 Percent of all new verbs from nouns？
B.Are Summering and Medaling Annoying?
C.Are You Comfortable about a New Verb?
D.Are There Any Rules for Verbing?
The annual Canadian commercial seal hunt is the world's largest hunt of marine mammals. A few weeks old, the seal cubs are prized primarily for their skins and also for the omega-3-rich oil used in food supplements--products that are shipped around the world.
This month, the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva, Switzerland, is expected to announce whether products from commercial seal hunting can be marketed in Europe. At present, they cannot. Such products have been banned by the European Union (EU) since 2009 to protect ‘public morals’. Canada and Norway have asked the WTO to overturn the ban - the first of its kind -- and the trade body will soon deliver its final decision.
As an official observer, I have seen the hunt from the ice and from helicopters. The details are grisly. That is why the WTO originally agreed that the EU could act to limit trade on the grounds of public morals - the first time that such a restriction had been put in place.
When they are born, seal cubs have white fur. They are abandoned by their mothers at about 12 days of age. Stranded on the unstable ice, they remain alone and unfed for up to six weeks, and during this time their fur changes from white to grey --and the hunters arrive.
The cubs are either shot from boats, or clubbed with a wooden bat or an iron-tipped pole called a hakapik. Some shot and injured seals slide into the water and are lost. Many shot and injured animals could potentially suffer for several minutes while the hunters drive their boats close enough to club them unconscious. If the ice is too unstable for the hunters to cross, shot and injured but conscious and reactive seals can be dragged into the boats with long hooked gaffs (鱼叉) before being clubbed.
As a human and as a scientist I consider the hunt to present real and significant welfare concerns. The available scientific evidence supports that opinion. But science, of course, is only one of the factors at play. Perhaps the final word should go to a statement attributed to Mahatma Gandhi: “The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
1.Why is WTO’s ban introduced in the passage “the first of its kind”?
A.It is the first to take little notice of the economic results.
B.It is the first to take moral standards into account.
C.It is the first to have been overturned in history.
D.It is the first to put animals’ welfare in place.
2.The underlined word “grisly” most probably means .
A.accurate B.unpleasant C.vague D.available
3.The writer describes the process of seal hunting in detail in paragraph 5 in order to .
A.prove it requires much experience B.introduce what tools are needed
C.show readers how violent it is D.stress how helpless seals are
4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A.WTO is going to lift the ban on seal hunting
B.Canada decreases its commercial seal hunting
C.The moral problem with commercial seal hunting
D.How animals are treated vary from country to country
You should see the photo. I’m sitting in red dirt, wearing an ugly purple T-shirt. My face is pink and my hair is wet with sweat. Flies buzz around my head. I’m in the Outback of Australia’s Northwest Territory, on a school trip with 20 parents and 20 kids.
It was an odd choice for a holiday. I like sitting by the pool with a cola, not flies and frogs. I like being alone and quiet, not a busload of kids. I like freshly washed sheets, not dirty-looking blankets.
But here’s the thing about that photo: I am smiling!
The trip sounded good when I signed up. Guides would take us into the heart of the place, and I would see a new part of Australia, learn about local culture and bond with my youngest daughter. I would also bond with 40 strangers. I just hoped there would be good coffee.
In Darwin, we were herded onto a bus. It quickly became tiresome. The kids were loud and I hate making small talk. But later, when I looked out at the vast, empty land, I was surprised at and moved by its beauty. Our guide told us about the land and his culture. I felt far from home.
At a national park, we enjoyed a natural swimming hole. Kids and parents had a great time.
Then we got to the outback. The cabin I shared with my daughter was a brick cell, full of geckos (壁虎) and crickets (蟋蟀), but too dark to see them.
It didn’t matter. The next nine days were packed: waterfalls, lakes, community visits and a trip around Katharine Gorge. We even saw giant crocodiles and baby wallabies.
On our last night, a water pipe broke. We awoke to a mess. Usually, I would have complained and asked for a refund, but it just seemed normal to be dirty.
Indeed, it was impossible to stay clean. We were hiking in red dirt, with temperatures of 35 degrees. Still, I felt a kind of energy I hadn’t experienced in years.
Yes, the coffee was bad, but I was too focused on keeping crickets off my face.
I love that photo of me in the dirt. I look messy, but also happy. Sometimes, it’s another way of traveling. There is beautiful scenery, there is dirt. There was always someone to talk to, someone to laugh with.
1.What were the author’s previous trips like, according to the article?
A.Cheap.
B.Adventurous.
C.Peaceful and comfortable.
D.Packed with outdoor activities.
2.What do we know about the author’s trip with her daughter?
A.Their journey was relaxing without too much sightseeing.
B.Their living conditions were fairly poor during the trip.
C.The scenery on the trip disappointed them.
D.The parents seemed to enjoy themselves more than the children.
3.How did the author feel during the later part of the trip?
A.Impatient. B.Positive.
C.Disappointed. D.Exhausted.
4.What is the author’s main purpose in writing this article?
A.To warn readers to choose their trips wisely.
B.To share the benefits of traveling with children.
C.To tell about her latest trip and explain what she learned from it.
D.To show the advantages of going to different places.
From the most talked about politicians to the most popular TV shows, the social media platform—Twitter has unveiled what its users have been most fixated (最关注的) with over the past year.
Most tweeted-about TV shows 2019
HBO’s “Game of Thrones” claimed the title of the most tweeted-about TV show of the year, despite many criticizing the series for an anti-climatic finale.
It was followed by streaming giant Netflix‟s “Stranger Things” and long-standing animated sitcom
“The Simpsons”.
Most tweeted-about films 2019
2019 American superhero film “Avengers: Endgame” became the highest-grossing film of all time when it was released earlier this year, grossing nearly $2.8 billion worldwide and its success was reflected on Twitter, making it the platform‟s most-talked about movie of the year. It was followed by “Toy Story 4” and American psychological thriller “Joker”.
Most tweeted-about hashtags 2019
The top news-related hashtags worldwide included NotreDame after France‟s landmark cathedral caught fire, causing irreversible damage to the building which dates back to 856 and is considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture.
Other popular news hashtags included Brexit, Christ Church and Climate Strike, in line with the biggest stories that have been dominating the global news agenda.
Most tweeted-about politicians 2019
US politicians topped the list for the most tweeted-about politicians worldwide, with President Donald Trump weighing in first. Former US President Obama was next on the list, followed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Also in the top 10 is US Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, popularly known as AOC, who made waves on the US political stage this year and is a strong supporter of the Green New Deal. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and French President Emmanuel Macron were also in the top 10.
Most tweeted-about emoji 2019
The social media platform kept track emoji usage as well, finding that the laughing face with tears of joy was the most used, followed by the crying face and heart eyes emoji.
1.Which of the following can be WRONG from Most tweeted-about TV shows 2019 and Most tweeted-about films 2019?
A.No film has earned more money than “Avengers: Endgame” so far.
B.When you see “Joker”, there is possibility that you will feel thrilled.
C.“Toy Story 4” is second only to “Avengers: Endgame” in popularity.
D.“Game of Thrones” enjoys a great success without any criticism.
2.It can be inferred that “hashtags” mainly refers to .
A.topics that people show little interest in
B.particular subjects that arouse people‟s attention worldwide
C.events that have controversial endings
D.subjects that are prohibited from being talked about
3.According to Twitter, we can know that from the last two parts.
A.there is no Asian politician on the list of Most tweeted-about politicians 2019
B.crying face is used more frequently than the laughing face with tears
C.US politicians are relatively more influential than politicians from other countries in 2019
D.US Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is strongly against the Green New Deal
根据首字母提示，写出正确的单词：
1.Tom’s arrival upset their daily r _____.
2.Different from the old Olympics, the c _____ Olympics were first held in 1896, in Athens.
3.C _____ to people’s belief, evidence shows that sharks seldom attack humans.
4.U _____ for the bad guy, the police had been informed and were waiting outside.
5.Keep in m _____ some people may need your help and contribution.
6.Out of work for a long time, I accepted the job without h _____.
7.I’m firmly convinced that this book is based on h _____ events.
8.I’d like to make c _____ about the noise. I really can’t bear it any longer.
9.People were evacuated(撤离) from the coastal regions in a _____ of the hurricane.
10.The twins are so alike that I always have difficulty d _____ one from the other.
11.At the conference, the director made an o _____ statement that the company decided to fire some employees.
12.On realizing they had got lost, the team p _____. How they should have stayed calm!
13.The full name of our great motherland is the People's R _____ of China.
14.They took Socrates to court for c _____ the young people of Athens.
15.Many a student usually c _____ the teacher before making important decisions.
16.She is s _____ to me, as she joined the business before me.
17.He does excellent work and obviously he is a man of very high i _____.
18.The Great Wall is so well-known a tourist attraction that millions of people p _____ in every year.
19.O _____ with all kinds of housework, the middle-aged woman could hardly spare any time to get relaxed.
20.A _____ the message to its leg, he set the bird loose, which immediately flew into the air and disappeared in the dark.
