A storm hit Houston, Texas, on Tuesday. It brought heavy rains and rising flood-waters. By Tuesday night, some parts of the city had received 10 inches of rain. Police and firefighters helped people move to safe places. They also saved people from cars and buses that were stuck on roads.
Certain areas around Houston were hit really hard. In just four hours, more than seven inches of rain fell in Sugar Land in the southwest of Houston. Cars could not pass through any of the areas main roadways. On Twitter, Sugar Land city officials asked people to get to high ground.
Tuesday’s rain hit parts of Texas that Hurricane Harvey had already damaged almost two years ago. Hurricane Harvey in August, 2017 was the second most costly hurricane in US history. It caused $125 billion worth of damage in Texas. In the Houston area, 36 people died and about 150, 000 homes were flooded.
A spokesman for the Harris County Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management spoke with the Houston Chronicle. The spokesman said that this week’s rain is “not in any way a Harvey-level event.”
But the worst may not be over yet. People will have a break from the heavy rain on Wednesday. According to the National Weather Service, the Texas Gulf Coast will continue to experience heavy rain later in the week. "Today should be our quietest over the next few days for rainfall,” said Don Oettinger, a National Weather Service meteorologist (气象学家).
Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peia warned, “As there is too much water on the ground, these are perfect conditions for flash floods, so we hope people are careful of what they’re doing and encourage them to stay home. There’s no sense in putting yourself, firefighters or anybody in danger needlessly.”
1.What are Paragraphs 1 and 2 mainly about?
A.Flood damage in Houston. B.Flood prevention in Houston.
C.Heavy floods hitting Houston. D.People fighting floods in Houston.
2.What do we know about Hurricane Harvey?
A.It caused no deaths or injuries. B.It did a lot of damage to Texas.
C.It was less serious than this week’s rain. D.It was the biggest hurricane on record.
3.What can we learn from the weather report of the National Weather Service?
A.Fine days are coming. B.It will rain a little non-stop.
C.A hurricane is unavoidable. D.Floods will continue.
4.What did Samuel suggest local people do?
A.Stay indoors. B.Join firefighters.
C.Give up needless things. D.Comfort those who lost homes.
When faced with the decision to get out of bed or have a few more minutes of sleep, which do you choose? Believe it or not, that decision could make a world of difference in the rest of your day.
About 85 percent of Americans use an alarm clock to wake up in the mornings, according to sleep researcher Till Roennenber. And while there are no official numbers on snoozing (打盹), a quick survey of social media makes it clear that hitting the snooze button is a popular pastime.
As to how the snooze button will affect your day, scientists have mixed opinions. Some scientists think people who hit the snooze button in the mornings are actually clever, creative and happy while some said that hitting the snooze button will ruin your life, or at the very least your day. "I feel that hitting the snooze button has got to be one of the worst things that ever happened to human sleep,” researcher Jonathan Horowitz said. "The chances of you ‘snoozing’ and actually experiencing a meaningful rest are close to zero.”
According to some sleep experts, when hitting the snooze button，you are in fact confusing your body and mind, and throwing yourself into a deep state of being sleepy. The body needs some time to wake up, so, when returning to what will be a light sleep for a brief period of time, you are putting your body back into a sleep mode before waking it again. At that point your body won’t know what it wants, resulting in a sort of half awaken state.
If you really want to take advantage of an alarm clock, the key is to form a healthy sleep cycle. Focus your efforts on getting enough sleep each night and waking up at the same time each day so that when your alarm goes off you feel rested.
1.What can we infer about hitting the snooze button from Paragraph 2?
A.People do it just for fun. B.It is a common practice.
C.People take it seriously. D.It is a bit childish.
2.What do some sleep experts think of hitting the snooze button?
A.It is meaningful in the long term.
B.It makes people become lazy.
C.It brings us a sense of satisfaction.
D.It affects our body and mind.
3.What’s the author’s suggestion on getting the best out of alarms?
A.Forming a good sleep habit. B.Trying to relax ourselves.
C.Making use of willpower. D.Using an extra alarm.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Ways to keep refreshed in the morning.
B.The snooze button and people's character.
C.Should you rely on the snooze button?
D.How to avoid the light sleep mode?
When David Carter started to study art at The University of Texas (UT)at Austin in 1971, he had big dreams of becoming an artist or a writer. But his study came to a stop at 23 after he hurt his hand in an unpleasant event. He developed schizophrenia(精神分裂症) later and spent many years without a home.
Carter liked to spend time around UT, because he dreamt of being able to continue his study in the university and becoming a writer. After running into Carter many times, UT student Ryan Chandler decided to interview him for a project for the Daily Texan, the student newspaper of UT.
“I interviewed him on Austin’s homeless problems. After I heard his story, we kept in touch and really became friends. I learned he wanted to get back to UT, so I decided to help him,” said Chandler. “He had got 87 hours, very close to a degree. Now, with changing degree requirements, he only has 64 hours to go.”
With the help of Chandler, who worked with the university office, Carter was assigned an adviser by UT’s College of Fine Arts. “It' s the greatest gift I’ve ever received,” Carter said. “He did what had to be done to get me back to school, and I couldn't have done it without him”
After seeing a magazine article about Carter, a UT schoolmate decided to pay his tuition fees (学费)without telling Chandler his name.
Doug Dempster, dean of the College of Fine Arts, said in a statement, “David Carter's decision to complete his degree is a testament (证明) to finishing well what was started, and stopped, even many years earlier. We welcome him back as we do many students each year whose education could not be completed easily. We’ re going to help him through his remaining course work.”
1.Why did Carter stop studying in the university?
A.He hurt an artist. B.He couldn’t afford his study.
C.He got a strange disease. D.He had a hand injury.
2.What was Chandler’s purpose in interviewing Carter?
A.To do a project on homelessness.
B.To know why he hung around UT.
C.To make friends with a homeless person.
D.To finish his homework on helping others.
3.Which of the following words can best describe Chandler?
A.Brave. B.Honest.
C.Warm-hearted. D.Strong-minded.
4.What can we learn from Dempster’s words in the statement?
A.He encourages Carter to study hard.
B.He supports students who never give up.
C.He calls on other students to help Carter.
D.He suggests other students learn from Carter.
Battered Moons Poetry Competition open now till 30th June 2019
Prizes
— 1st Prize￡700; 2nd Prize E200: 3rd Prize E100.
— Four commendations(奖励) of ￡25 each.
Fees
￡5 for the first poem and ￡4 each for the rest.
Enter the competition
We accept online entries (参赛作品) only.
Guidelines
— Open to any person of the UK aged 20 or over.
— The closing date is 30th June 2019.
— Judges Zoë Brigley Thompson and Cristina Newton will read all the entries and make shortlists (入围名单). Guest judge Zoë Brigley Thompson will choose the seven finalists.
— There is no limit(限制) to the number of entries a single entrant can make.
— Entries cannot be returned, so please keep a copy.
Results
All entrants will receive an email notification of results. Check the Battered Moons website for more information from October 2019.
Poems
—All poems must have a title and must not be more than 40 lines in length (excluding title and line spaces) or 250 words and can be on any subject.
—Entries must be written in English.
—Entries must not have been published, self-published, published on a website or online public space or used by radio or television before 6th October 2019.
Winners
—Winners and poets receiving commendations will be notified in September 2019 and invited to the Poetry Swindon Festival on 6th October 2019, where they will read their winning poems.
—All winners and commended poets will be asked to provide an introduction about themselves to appear with their winning poem on the Battered Moons website, and a photograph for the website.
1.What do we know about the poetry competition?
A.It is open to UK teenagers.
B.It sets seven kinds of prizes.
C.It gives winners money prizes.
D.It allows one entrant one poem.
2.What is one requirement for the entries?
A.They must have a fixed subject.
B.They must be handed in online.
C.They must be at least 250 words.
D.They must be kept in a special form.
3.What are winners asked to do?
A.To provide a self-introduction.
B.To make an acceptance speech.
C.To attend a national meeting.
D.To read their winning poems on TV.
假定你是李华，你从国际志愿服务组织Volunteer Abroad官网上得知该组织正在招募中国志愿者进入 社区进行环保宣传，请你根据以下提示用英文写一封申请信。内容包活：
1.表达言愿；2.申请理由；3.恳请获准
注意：1.词数100左右； 2.开头和结尾己给出，不计入总词数：
3.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Sir or Madam
I'm Li Hua, a high school student
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
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处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
増加：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一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分.
Fascinated by the elegance of the piano, I start to learn to play it at a very young age. To my surprised, the classical instrument also taught me something more than music itself.
Playing piano has taught me that hard work isn't always greeted with immediately reward. It was common for me to improvement after devoted a lot of time.
Beside it taught me that how to hold an optimistic attitude towards difficulties and even change them into motivation. Whenever I met problems, anything could be more effective than playing a piece of music on the piano. I feel refreshing as soon as I put my fingers on the shining key.
