Money might not grow on trees, but it seems that furniture does! Gavin Munro, a UK-based designer, has come up with a brilliant alternative to cutting beautiful trees and converting them into furniture.
He first came up with the idea of growing furniture when he was working as a gardener in California and also made furniture with washed-up driftwood on the side.
After several attempts, he finally managed to develop a model chair using four trees. Munro is now tending to a small 2.5 acre “furniture forest” of 400 trees in a field north of Derby, England. He uses specially designed plastic frames to make young oak and ash trees into the shapes of chairs, tables, frames, or lamps.
A forest that grows furniture sounds like a setting right out of Alice in Wonderland, but there’s nothing magical about it, just a lot of hard work. The forest consists of rows upon rows of trees covered in blue plastic molds, converting them into furniture as they grow. Once they take the desired shape, they are cared for until thick, mature and ready for harvest.
After harvesting, each piece is planned (刨平) and finished to show off the wood grain inside. “It’s an art form in itself, keeping track of everything,” Munro said.
The entire process takes about four to eight years, resulting in fully functional, organic, eco-friendly furniture, and more long-lasting than anything else on the market. They are grown and grafted (嫁接) into one solid piece without any joints that loosen over time. As Munro puts it, “These pieces of furniture could last for centuries.”
Quality isn’t an issue with forest-grown furniture, but maintenance and scalability (可伸缩性) certainly are. For now, Munro expects to grow 50 pieces a year, with the first lot of chairs available for purchase in mid-2017, priced at $3,700 each.
1.The first paragraph mainly serves as ___.
A.comment B.praise
C.introduction D.background
2.Gavin Munro thought of growing furniture_____.
A.while serving as a gardener B.while relaxing at home
C.while studying in California D.when he grow up
3.What plays a key role in growing furniture?
A.Rich imagination. B.Perfect design.
C.Large irrigation. D.Hard work.
4.The passage is probably taken from ____.
A.an essay B.a report
C.a novel D.a diary
On January 27th, in order to win the new pneumonia Resistance War (抗击新型肺炎战), the Ministry of Education issued a notice on putting off the start time of school in spring 2020. It was said that school should not start before February 17th. The exact start time of school will depend on situations and further notices.
However, many parents are very worried that putting off the start of school may affect children’s studies. It they have such a long winter vacation, children will not learn any knowledge, read books or study at all. They may forget what they have learnt before. Staying at home for a long time will make them keep eating, sleeping and playing, which seriously affect their physical and mental health.
In short, the close of school influences learning and develops bad habits, so how should we avoid these problems? Local education departments have also issued a notice, that is, to organize online teaching and create a network platform, where necessary courses will be shown every day, and online teaching will be given by excellent teachers of the subject, and students can learn at home through computer or mobile network.
It should be said that such a method is very good. It can not only keep students indoors and not worry about the infection of the disease, but also make them study at home, improve their learning ability, and truly achieve “no suspension of classes”. Both the platform itself and the recorded lesson resources are more useful, and are welcomed by parents and teachers.
Of course, except for learning at home, it is also necessary to teach children about health knowledge, especially how to keep away from touching virus; at the same time, it is also necessary for children to do some physical exercises or some games, which is good for physical health at home.
1.Parents worried about putting off the start time of school because ____.
A.children may be infected by virus
B.they don’t like the idea of online learning
C.children’s study may be affected
D.parents have no time to look after children
2.Except for learning at home, what is also necessary according to the writer?
A.To keep playing online games.
B.To keep touching different people.
C.To do some physical exercise outside.
D.To teach children about health knowledge.
3.The underlined word “suspension” in Paragraph 4 probably means ___.
A.plan B.stop
C.growth D.change
4.What’s the best title for this passage?
A.A Special Way to Learn at Home B.A New War with a New Change
C.A Way to Keep Mentally Healthy D.A Method to Make Parents Unworried
It’s 1944, in occupied Paris. Four friends spend their days in an arrow room atop a Left Bank apartment building. The neighbors think they’re painters — a cover story to explain the chemical smell. In fact, the friends are members of a Jewish resistance cell. They’re operating a secret laboratory to make false passports for children and families about to be deported to concentration camps (集中营). The youngest member of the group, the lab’s technical director, is practically a child himself. Adolfo Kaminsky, age 18.
In the summer of 1943, he and his family were arrested and sent to Drancy, the internment camp for Jews near Paris that was the last stop before the death camps. This time, their passports saved them. Argentina’s government protested the family’s detention, so they stayed at Drancy for three months, while thousands of others were swiftly sent on to die. The Kaminskys were eventually freed, but they weren’t safe in Paris, where Jews were under constant threat of arrest.
To survive they would have to go underground. Kaminsky’s father arranged to get false papers from a Jewish resistance group, and sent Kaminsky to pick them up. When the agent told Kaminsky that they were struggling to erase a certain blue ink from the documents, he advised using lactic acid, a trick he’d learned at the dairy. It worked, and he was invited to join the resistance. Kaminsky’s cell was one of many. Historians estimated that France’s Jewish resistance networks together saved 7,000 to 10,000 children.
Kaminsky never took a penny form forging. He thought the money would ruin his belief. He made a living by taking some commercial photos. To this day, 94-year-old Kaminsky feels guilty he survived the Holocaust, in despite of the fact that his remarkable work as a forger during World War II saved the lives of thousands of Jews. “I saved lives because I can’t deal with unnecessary deaths — I just can’t. All humans are equal, whatever their origins, their beliefs, their skin color.”
1.What is the main duty of the Jewish resistance cell?
A.To provide an apartment building for painters.
B.To protect Jewish people from being killed.
C.To make fake identities for all families.
D.To train students to operate laboratories.
2.What happened to Kaminsky in 1943?
A.He was sent to a concentration camp. B.He moved to live in Argentina.
C.He was swiftly sent on to die. D.He protested his family’s detention
3.Which of the following words can best describe Kaminsky?
A.Enthusiastic and gentle. B.Expressive and humble.
C.Disciplined and modest. D.Courageous and helpful.
4.What does the story intend to tell us?
A.Don’t raise the white flag quite yet.
B.You want to get rough, we can get rough.
C.There is always a bit of light even in the darkness.
D.No-one hits the bull’s-eye with the first arrow.
How to become a conservation officer: Jade’s story
Part 1: Jade’s story
Hi, I’m Jade. I’m 20 years old and I’m an apprentice conservation officer.
Conservation is protecting the natural environment and trying to make it thrive and flourish as much as possible. My job really is to try and get as many people engaged in nature as possible and doing an apprenticeship like this, which is so diverse, really means that I can try every different area of this job out and see which fits me the best. And it means that I also get paid at the same time. I’ve always been a massive animal lover. I love being so close to them and observing the behaviours and I love the enthusiasm.
This job has helped me vastly from day-to-day stress and anxiety, to just general happiness, I’m in such a better place because of it. I’m working with so many amazing supportive people and I really couldn’t be happier right now!
Part 2: What to expect if you want to be a conservation officer
When Jade finishes her apprenticeship, she will be a conservation officer. A role similar to Jade’s is a countryside officer.
Countryside officer salary: £18,000 to £50,000 per year
Countryside officer working hours: 39 to 41 hours per week
Typical entry requirements: To do an advanced apprenticeship in environmental conservation like Jade’s, you’ll usually need 5 General Certificates of Secondary Education or equivalent at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), including English and Maths. Paid or unpaid work experience can be very useful when applying for jobs. Organisations like the Conservation Volunteers, the National Trust and the Wildlife Trusts offer training for volunteers.
1.In what ways does the job help Jade?
A.By providing her with one-on-one training.
B.By improving her confidence in protecting nature.
C.By helping her relieve the pressure and stress.
D.By training her in finding different types of jobs.
2.Why does the text mention the countryside officer salary?
A.Because it can attach importance to the job.
B.Because it can call on people to apply for the job.
C.Because it can show the popularity of the job.
D.Because it can remind people to protect nature.
3.How can you become a conservation officer?
A.Grade 9 to 4 (A* to C) in English or Maths.
B.Have paid or unpaid work experience.
C.Get 5 General Certificates of Secondary Education.
D.Volunteer in organisations like the Wildlife Trusts.
假定你是李华。你校学生会决定举办迎新晚会（New Year’s Party）。请你写信给你校国际班学生Jim，邀请他参加晚会。
内容包括：
1. 举办晚会的目的；
2. 晚会内容；
3. 请他表演节目。
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，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。
A truck driver met with a cat lie on the road. He stopped his truck but picked it up, only to find it was serious wounded. With further examine, he found part of it, one ear gone. He put it in his truck and looked it carefully. To his relief, it returned back to health soon. Since then, a cat has been always following around. It will sit beside him when he drove a long way to deliver goods, that brings much pleasure on the dull way. I think that perhaps the cat is showing thank to the driver for saving its life in its own way.
