Bees play a vital role in the world. Unfortunately, bees are dying by the second.
The main purpose of bees is to make honey. Honey, shockingly, does not exist for human consumption, it is essential to the insects. Honeybees store honey in their hives (蜂巢) in order for the bees to have energy for their flight muscles and for heating the hive during the winter period. They collect pollen (花粉) which supplies protein for young bees to grow.
According to Honey, com, the increased production and quality of agricultural crops as a result of honey bee pollination is valued more than $14.6 billion per year. These insects are responsible for over 70 of the fruits and vegetables we eat today, including apples, grapes, coffee, beans, and broccoli.
So if they are so valuable to agriculture, why do they keep dying off? A key suspect seems to be pesticides (农药). Honeybees who are exposed to pesticides result in the damage to their neurological (神经的) functions, specifically memory or behavior. And that’s why the majority of worker bees disappear and leave behind a queen, plenty of food and a few nurse bees to care for the remaining immature bees and the queen. There are several other causes to the decline of bees, including the destruction of natural habitat, like woodlands, forests, and other habitats for bees. Climate change is also a factor in the decline of the wild bee population.
Actually, there are a variety of methods to help the bee population grow. One way is to start your own organic garden by planting bee-friendly plants. Pesticides are used in both industrial practices and even in your home, so it is best to find organic seeds and weed killers.
1.Why do honeybees store honey in their hives?
A.To provide enough honey for human to consume.
B.To draw protein out of honey for young bees.
C.To help attract other insects and make hives stronger.
D.To strengthen bee muscles and heat hives in winter.
2.Apples and beans are mentioned in the third paragraph to show that ________.
A.bees supply human beings with basic food
B.bees mainly live on these agricultural crops
C.bees are of great importance to fruits and vegetables
D.bees can bring in more money for famers every year
3.What is most likely to cause the worker bees to leave their hives behind?
A.The lack of food.
B.The abuse of pesticides.
C.The fighting among bees.
D.The destruction of the habitats.
4.What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
A.Another way to save bees.
B.Other tips for choosing seeds.
C.More methods to plant green organic fruits.
D.Causes of the decline in the wild bee population.
For the last eight years, Jo Meade rode her bike each Sunday on a 16-mile round trip to her job washing dishes. It took more than an hour each way. Other days of the week she would spend two hours on three buses from her apartment to get to the other work, for a four-hour round trip.
That was the “before” part of her life. The “after” part of her life was started by the community Police Officer Trevor Arnold, who delivered a used car to her with the help of a car dealer and other donors.
Arnold, who spotted Meade, red and sweaty, riding her bike in the worst heat this summer, decided he would get her a car. He intended to quietly buy her a used car out of his own pocket so he turned to his friend Kody Slaght, a car salesman, to ask about a car priced $ 1,000. That wasn’t enough for a reliable ride, Slaght said, but the dealership said they would find a good car for her at a good price. Soon others were donating. Slaght and Arnold wouldn’t say how much the car cost, but the value is about $ 4,000.
Arnold said he was motivated by Meade’s work ethic (职业道德) to help. “I see a lot of hardworking people but that’s when they are at work. Can you imagine spending four hours of your day getting to and from work?” he said.
Meade’s boss said she was awesome and really reliable when she worked and she got along with others. “She’s willing to ride the three buses to get in here on her day off if we need her to.”
Meade said she was planning to buy a car, “but I haven’t been able to afford it,” she said. “Trevor, he is a very good guy. I did not expect this.”
1.What can we learn about Jo Meade’s work?
A.It’s free but low-paid. B.It’s time-consuming on the road.
C.It’s competitive and high-paid. D.It’s not worth her devotion.
2.Why did Slaght disagree to Arnold’s buying a car priced $ 1,000?
A.The car was not in good condition of driving.
B.The car was too expensive for Meade.
C.The car was beyond Arnold’s affordability.
D.The car had been donated to another person.
3.What inspired Arnold to buy a car for Meade?
A.Her devotion to work. B.His duty as a policeman.
C.His sympathy for Meade. D.Her desire for a better life.
4.What’s Meade’s feeling for the donated car?
A.Normal. B.Embarrassed.
C.Disappointed. D.Surprised.
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1.What do you think is the passage?
A. Descriptions of several products. B. An advertisement of a product.
C. An introduction to lost items. D. Directions of a new item.
2.How many functions does a TrackR have?
A. Three. B. Four. C. Five. D. Six.
3.Which of the following can replace the underlined “a snap” in the passage?
A. An easy job. B. A necessary task.
C. An available method D. A quiet action.
请阅读下面图文，并按照要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
The need for social distancing has reached the dining table with the National Health Commission announcing on Sunday that it will insist on diners being served meals in separate dishes in restaurants to better protect public health.
Separate dishes for everyone is not something new for China;the earliest records show people having their meals from separate dishes.Even during big feasts,people had a table to themselves. And there is nothing to suggest this practice was because of an epidemic(流行病）。Instead,this helped personalize the menu for everyone and avoid the wasting of food.
How we eat is,of course,just one way to control the spread of an epidemic.Some of these good habits should continue after the epidemic ends to prevent another one from breaking out in the future.
（写作内容）
1.用约30个单词概括图文信息的主要内容；
2. 结合实际谈谈你是否倾向于中国古代传统的就餐方式？请说明理由（不少于两点）。
（写作要求）
1.写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3.不必写标题。
（评分标准）
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当。
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请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意：请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填1个单词。
Imagine that work had taken over the world.It would be the centre around which the rest of life turned.Then all else would come to be subservient(服从于）to work.Then slowly,almost unconsciously,anything else-the games once played,the songs sung now,the loves fulfilled,the festivals celebrated-would come to resemble and finally become work.
And how,in this world of total work,would people think and sound and act?Everywhere they looked,they would see the pre- employed,employed,post-employed,underemployed and unemployed,and there would be no one uncounted in this census(人口普查）。Everywhere they would praise and love work wishing each other the very best for a productive day,opening their eyes to tasks and closing them only to sleep.Everywhere virtue of hard work would be championed as the means by which success is to be achieved,laziness being considered as the gravest sin(罪孽）。 Everywhere among content-providers,knowledge-brokers,collaboration architects and heads of new divisions would be heard endless chatter about workflows,about plans and benchmarks(基准）。
In this world,eating,resting,exercising,meditating and commuting(act of travelling back and forth between home and work)would all be beneficial to good health,which would,in turn,be put in the service of being more and more productive.No one would drink too much,and some would just take a little of psychedelics(迷幻剂）to enhance their work performance.
What is so disturbing about total work is not just that it causes needless human suffering but also that it removes the forms of playful contemplation(沉思）concerned with our asking,thinking and answering the most basic questions of existence.There is,to begin with,constant tension,an dominant sense of pressure associated with the thought that there's something that needs to be done, always something I'm supposed to be doing right now.Secondly,one feels guilt whenever he is not as productive as possible
The burden character of total work,then,is defined by ceaseless,restless,upsetting activity, anxiety about the future,a sense of life being overwhelming,thoughts_about missed opportunities, and guilt connected to the possibility of laziness.In short,total work necessarily causes dukkha,a Buddhist term referring to the unsatisfactory nature of a life filled with suffering.
In addition to causing dukkha,total work blocks access to higher levels of reality.For what is lost in the world of total work is art's disclosure of the beautiful,religion's glimpse of eternity(永恒）， love's pure joy,and philosophy's sense of wonderment(a feeling of pleasant surprise or admiration). All of these require silence,stillness,a wholehearted willingness to simply understand.
Passage outline | Supporting details |
Imagination
| If work occupied the world,human life would 1.around nothing else and there would also be an 2.change from anything to work. |
Possible occurrences
| ◇Human life would be a work-sleep pattern. ◇Efforts to make you 3.at work would be praised and laziness 4. ◇People of different5.would talk endlessly about work,like workflows,plans and so on. |
Consequences
| ◇Total work not only brings about suffering but also 6.people from having playful contemplation. ◇Total work tends to put people under pressure,making them feel tense and 7.when they are not productive. ◇Total work causes people to always feel 8.about their life. ◇Total work leaves people little 9.to explore art,religion,love and philosophy,blocking people's access to higher levels of 10.. |
You probably know the name Christopher Robin from one of the most beloved children's books in history. But Christopher Robin Milne was a real person-the only child of Winnie the Pooh author A.A.Milne. It was his playtime in the woods with his parents and his favorite stuffed animal that inspired the series. However, the little boy would soon be thrust into the spotlight before he was even old enough for kindergarten, much less equipped to handle worldwide fame and recognition. Here's what Christopher Robin really thought of Winnie the Pooh and his own reluctant legacy(遗留下来的东西) as the hero of these stories.
Christopher Robin was born on August 21,1920.His father, Alan Alexander Milne, kept a home in London for the family, but they would often spend weekends at a country home called Cotchford Farm in East Sussex.That's the location that inspired many of the locales(故事发生的现场) in the books, including the Hundred Acre Wood. As for Winnie the Pooh, he was inspired by a real-life character, too. Well, sort of. A. A. Milne bought Christopher Robin a teddy bear named Edward Bear from Harrods of London for his first birthday, according to the New York Public Library. Christopher Robin renamed the bear Winnie after a real bear he saw at the London Zoo. Here's more about the real-life toys that inspired the other Winnie the Pooh characters.
The creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories was a family affair. In fact, A.A.Milne often credited his wife, Daphne, as a collaborator on the books because he was inspired by watching how she played with Christopher Robin, helping him bring the stuffed animals to life with different voices and personalities to suit each one.
The Winnie the Pooh sensation started with a short story that A.A.Milne wrote for the London Evening News. It was called “The Wrong Sort of Bees,” and it included Christopher Robin and his bear, Winnie the Pooh. But, according to the Smithsonian, the boy and his bear really rose to fame with the publication of A.A.Milne' s 1926 book that was illustrated by E.H. Shepard.
Fan mail poured in when people learned that there was a “real” Christopher Robin. The author would give his son those fan letters, introducing the little boy to his new, widespread fame. Christopher Robin was expected to respond to each fan letter with his nanny's help. He also appeared in a pageant(露天演出的历史剧）based on the Pooh characters and would participate in audio recordings of the books when he was only 7,which his cousin would later refer to as exploitation, according to the BBC.
Christopher Robin liked the Winnie the Pooh books at first, and he even enjoyed the fame. However, after a few years, those books that were so beloved to readers around the world became a burden to him. Christopher Robin went away to boarding school around the age of 9,at the height of Winnie the Pooch’s popularity, and he was bullied there. The other kids would play that record of Christopher Robin reading the poems about Winnie the Pooh and tease him mercilessly.
Plus, the real-life Christopher Robin was very different from the fictional character who shared his name, but people made the false assumption that he was truly like the character in the books. As a result, Christopher Robin felt very misunderstood. Here are more fictional characters you never knew were based on real people.
By 1929,A.A.Milne told reporters that he was “amazed and disgusted” by Christopher Robin's fame. Although he didn't go into detail about the problems that his son faced, the author felt that his son had already experienced more fame than he had intended or wanted for him. Realizing that his young son might be damaged by this, A.A.Milne swore never to write another children's book after the fourth Pooh book was published.
Still, as with most family situations, things were complicated. The Guardian reports that A.A. Milne was a bit in denial about the grave impact the fame had on his son, telling reporters on another occasion that Christopher Robin referred to himself as “Billy Moon” at home and claiming that the fame didn't impact them personally. That would prove to be untrue.
1.What happened to Christopher Robin after the series succeeded?
A.He stopped playing in the woods with his toys.
B.He became the center of worldwide attention.
C.He prepared himself for kindergarten education.
D.He refused to admit being the hero of these stories.
2.How did the creation of the Winnie the Pooh stories take place?
A.It resulted from Milne' s family cooperation.
B.It was inspired by Robin's first birthday party.
C.It was assisted by the real-life stuffed animals.
D.It began with a casual visit to a country home.
3.What do we know about the book The Wrong Sort of Bees by
A.It was cowritten by E.H.Shepard and A.A.Milne.
B.It helped the boy and his bear to achieve great fame.
C.It laid the base for the boy and his bear rising to fame.
D.It was published in 1926 according to the Smithsonian.
4.What was his cousin's attitude to Robin's participation in these activities?
A.Supporting. B.Aggressive.
C.Objective. D.Disapproving.
5.Why did Christopher Robin become tired of the fame after a few years?
A.Because he began to study in a boarding school.
B.Because he disliked the fictional character any more.
C.Because he shamed his name with the fictional character.
D.Because he suffered from the bullies and misunderstandings.
6.What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph mean?
A.People might mask their true feelings for certain reasons.
B.People are likely to make family situations more complex.
C.People should be encouraged to tell the truth to reporters.
D.People can be influenced by complicated family situations.
