The hardworking blacksmith(铁匠）Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard working was he that at times he would make the sparks(火花）fly from his hammer.
The son of Mr.Smith,a_______neighbor,used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself _______ how the tradesman worked.
＂Young man,why don't you_______your hand to learn to make shoe tacks(鞋钉），even if it is only to pass the _______?"said the blacksmith."Who _______,one day,it may be of use to you.”
The lazy boy began to see what he could do.After a little _______he found that he was becoming very _______and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.
Old Mr.Smith died and the son,because of the war, _______all his goods.He had to leave home and _______in another country.________so happened that in this village there were numerous shoemakers who were spending a lot of money on tacks for their shoes and________at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to________what they wanted,because in that part of the country there was a great________ for soldiers' shoes.
Our young Mr.Smith,who was finding it difficult to earn his daily ________,remembered that once upon a time he had learned the________of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the ________.He told them that he would make the tacks if they would ________ to get him settled in his workshop.The shoemakers were only too glad of the ________.And soon,young Mr.Smith found that he was making the finest tacks in the village.
"How ________ it seems," he used to say,"even making tacks can bring a________.My trade is more useful to me than were all my former riches."
1.A.wealthy B.hardworking C.selfish D.curious
2.A.examining B.determining C.watching D.explaining
3.A.wash B.try C.force D.win
4.A.hammer B.test C.comment D.time
5.A.cares B.complains C.knows D.declares
6.A.practice B.struggle C.analysis D.check
7.A.skilled B.interested C.tired D.worried
8.A.carried B.lost C.sold D.destroyed
9.A.settled down B.rose up C.took over D.got away
10.A.Nothing B.That C.This D.It
11.A.ever B.instead C.altogether D.even
12.A.remember B.get C.make D.protect
13.A.status B.standard C.need D.price
14.A.praise B.break C.newspaper D.bread
15.A.art B.benefit C.importance D.motto
16.A.blacksmiths B.soldiers C.shoemakers D.villagers
17.A.hesitate B.help C.refuse D.return
18.A.aid B.work C.advice D.offer
19.A.challenging B.attractive C.lively D.funny
20.A.fortune B.competition C.trick D.message
From quiet paths by a stream in a forest to busy roads running through a city,people have created various forms of routes in different places.These routes have enabled people to move, transport things,and send information from one place to another quickly and safely.1.
Early routes were often formed naturally on land.They gradually developed over long periods of time while people traveled them on foot or horseback.Once the first wheeled carts appeared in ancient times,people recognized the importance of well-maintained routes.2.As a result,life became much easier,communities grew,economies developed,and cultures spread.
People have established routes on water,too.Rivers and canals have served as effective routes for people to move around and carry things.For example,in the old,Japanese city of Edo,water routes were used for the transportation of agricultural products,seafood,and wood. 3.They were important for the movement of ships,particularly in the days when they moved mainly by wind power.Using these sea routes,people could go to places they had not been able to reach before.
People have gone on to open routes in the sky as well.Since the invention of the airplane,they have made it possible to travel long distances easily.Finally,people became able to travel safely and comfortably high in the sky,and going vast distances only took a small amount of time.
4.By using this worldwide route,people can easily get information that once was available mainly from books and face-to-face communication.
As long as there have been people,there have been routes to connect them.5.
A.People could travel great distances.
B.People have also opened routes across the sea.
C.Today,we have a new type of route,the Internet.
D.Therefore,towns,cities,and entire countries improved them.
E.Some unknown routes will surely take us further in the future.
F.They have been important in our daily lives throughout history.
G.They can immediately send messages to large numbers of people all at once.
On a Tuesday afternoon in America's tech wonderland,Michael Feno,owner of Lucca Ravioli, stood outside his dear pasta restaurant,posing for pictures,his customers in tears.After 94 years, Lucca's doors shut on the last day of April 2019.A few blocks away,Borderlands Cafe closed the same day after 10 years in business.Owner Alan Beatts could not keep workers,even with a$15 minimum hourly wage.Who could live on$15 an hour in this city?
Tech is not what everyone talks about in San Francisco.It is money.Its estate(房地产）is the nation's costliest.A single-family home lists for$1.6 million,while$3,700 in monthly rent will get you a one-bedroom apartment.
For decades,this attractive city of hills,bordered by water on three sides,was a precious harbor for immigrants and artists.That's no longer the case.In a time of rare consensus(共识）， everyone agrees that something has become bad in San Francisco.
The city is rich in what other areas desire:start-ups,high-paying jobs,educated young people and rising property values.In the shadow of such wealth,however,San Francisco struggles with a homeless problem,which even forced Mayor London Breed to send a team to clean up human waste on the streets.
To many citizens,San Francisco has become unrecognizable in 10 years,as if it had received cosmetic surgery(整容手术）。It has less of what makes a city energetic.It has the lowest percentage of children of any major American city,and is home to about as many dogs as humans under the age of 18.To take a midday tour downtown is to be surrounded by an army of young workers,mostly white and male.Seeing a child who is learning to walk is similar to finding an endangered animal.
The city has also become less of a home to artists and musicians,because they cannot afford their practising spaces.How will the city create its next Grateful Dead or generation of Beat Writers? ＂Part of being an artist is being an observer of what's going on,says Victor Krummenacher,a member of a rock band who left the city in 2019 after 30 years."In this area,you're only stuck in the jam and costs.”
Everyone has a story about what is not here anymore:the inability to find a hardware store,a shoe repair or an independent music club.Businesses that were part of the memory,tradition and the lives of San Franciscans are being replaced with hipster(潮人）shops,which work to keep an artificial memory of its past.
1.The writer mentions the two restaurant owners in Paragraph 1 to introduce.
A.the way of keeping workers
B.the high costs in this city
C.America's Tech wonderland
D.their business life in this city
2.Paragraph 5 mainly tells us that
A.San Francisco is an energetic city with many dogs
B.Young workers often take a midday walk in San Francisco
C.many citizens in San Francisco have received cosmetic surgery
D.children make up a small part of the population in San Francisco
3.Grateful Dead in Paragraph 6 is probably the name of
A.a football team
B.a famous restaurant
C.a musician group
D.a government organization
4.What does the writer probably think of the life in San Francisco?
A.Disappointing.
B.Dangerous.
C.Colorful.
D.Traditional.
5.What can we infer from the passage?
A.The economy in San Francisco is turning for the worse.
B.The homeless people like to throw rubbish on the streets.
C.Many people can't afford the high costs in San Francisco.
D.Hipster shops keep the tradition of businesses in San Francisco.
We've known for years that plants can see,hear,smell and communicate with chemicals.Now, reported New Scientist,they have been recorded making sounds when stressed.
In a yet-to-be-published study, Itzhak Khait and his team at Tel Aviv University, in Israel, found that tomato and tobacco plants can make ultrasonic(超声的)noises. The plants "cry out" due to lack of water,or when they are cut. It's just too high-pitched(音调高的）for humans to hear.
Microphones placed 10 centimeters away from the plants picked up sounds in the ultrasonic range of 20 to 100 kilohertz(干赫兹)。Human hearing usually ranges from 20 hertz to 20 kilohertz."These findings can change the way we think about the plant kingdom,”they wrote.
On average,"thirsty"tomato plants made 35 sounds an hour,while tobacco plants made 11. When they were cut,tomato plants made an average of 25 sounds in the following hour,and tobacco plants 15.Unstressed plants produced less than one sound per hour,on average.
Perhaps most interestingly,different types of stress led to different sounds.The researchers trained a machine-learning model to separate the plants' sounds from those of the wind,rain and other noises of the greenhouse.In most cases,it correctly recognized whether the stress was caused by dryness or a cut.Water-hungry tobacco appears to make louder sounds than cut tobacco,for example.Although Khait and his colleagues only looked at tomato and tobacco plants,they think other plants also make sounds when stressed.
If farmers could hear these sounds,said the team,they could give water to the plants that need it most.As climate change causes more droughts,they said this would be important information for farmers. "The sounds that drought-stressed plants make could be used in precision(精准) agriculture, "said Anne Visscher at the Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew,in the UK.
Khait's report also suggests that insects can hear the sounds up to 5 meters away and respond. For example,a moth(蛾子）may decide not to lay eggs on a water-stressed plant.Edward Farmer. at the University of Lausanne,Switzerland,is doubtful.He said that the idea of moths listening to plants is"a little too speculative”。
If plants are screaming(尖叫）for fear of their survival,maybe we should be glad we can't hear them.
1.Paragraph 3 mainly explains_______.
A.where humans differ from plants
B.how the research was carried out
C.what the findings of the study are
D.why humans can't hear the cries of plants
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the study?
A.All plants make sounds when they feel hungry.
B.Stressed plants make more sounds than unstressed ones.
C.Tobacco plants are more afraid of thirsty than being cut.
D.The more stressed a plant is,the louder sounds it makes.
3.What does the underlined word"speculative"in Paragraph 7 probably mean?
A.Surprising.
B.Uncertain.
C.Incorrect.
D.Unique.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Deaf humans
B.Stressed plants
C.Silent screams
D.Precision agriculture
Actor Kirk Douglas, who was in Hollywood’s golden age, died on February 5th, 2020. He was 103 years old. His son, actor Michael Douglas said, “To the world he was a legend, a humanitarian (人道主义者), an actor who lived from the golden age of movies well into his golden years.”
Born on December 9th, 1916, in Amsterdam, New York, Douglas changed his name to Kirk Douglas before entering the Navy during World War II. Before serving in the war, he made his Broadway debut (首秀) in the musical Spring Again. After he left the Navy in 1944, he returned to act in New York in the theater, commercials and radio.
By the late 1940s and early 1950s, Douglas had turned to film and began to be a box office heavyweight. Champion, the 1949 film about a boxer, earned him his first Oscar nomination (提名). He acted in several Westerns throughout his career, beginning with 1951’s Along the Great Duide. He also applied his service experience in Hollywood films such as Top Secret Affair, Paths of Glory and Seven Days in May. Douglas was perhaps best known for his leading role in 1960’s Spartacus, which he also produced. He was also praised for his more lighthearted role in 20,000 Leagues under the Sea.
The Hollywood great was nominated for Academy Awards three times throughout his career, and was presented with an honorary Oscar in 1996. In the same year he suffered a stroke, seriously damaging his ability to speak. However, it never kept him out of the public eye. Following recovery, Douglas wrote a book My Stroke of Luck in which he said his life changed for the better. He wrote several other books, including three memoirs (回忆录). Douglas also returned to the screen three years later in the films Diamonds. It Runs in the Family and Before I Forget.
1.Which of the following things about Kirk Douglas happened first?
A.Serving in the war.
B.Returning to act in the theatre.
C.Writing several books.
D.Making the Broadway debut.
2.What can we learn from the passage?
A.Kirk’s experience in the Navy played a role in some of his films.
B.Kirk became more famous after his recovery from his illness.
C.Kirk won Academy Awards four times throughout his career.
D.Kirk’s success was mainly due to the golden age of movies.
3.How can Kirk Douglas be described during his illness and recovery?
A.Honest.
B.Discouraged.
C.Optimistic.
D.Upset.
Drawing and Creativity for Big Little Artists
Those between 6 and 100 years old who want to improve as artists, parents who want creative activities to do as a family, and teachers and educators who need to add new dynamics to their classes.
What you need
To carry out this course you will not need to know how to draw or any other special ability. All the advised material is only a suggestion. If you do not find any of the materials, dare to experiment with what you have at home. Sometimes you can use coins and glasses instead of a ruler of circles, or markers instead of ink.
1.How many parts is the course made up of?
A.4. B.5. C.10. D.14.
2.The course is not suitable for__________.
A.Annie, who is a famous painter
B.Edwin, who teaches in a primary school
C.Joana, who has a five-year-old daughter
D.Mike, who is a retired worker and loves arts
3.Where can you possibly find this advertisement?
A.In a handbook.
B.In a newspaper.
C.In a painting book.
D.In an e-magazine.
