Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ has led Great Britain through many tough times throughout her 68-year sovereignty (在位). But never, during her reign (统治), has an issue disrupted the British public as much as the current pandemic of COVID-19.
By April 6, the UK had had 47,806 confirmed cases. Among them, crucially, is British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has recently been hospitalized. With the country entering its peak infection period, the Queen made only her fifth televised address to the nation, aside from her annual Christmas broadcast, on April 5. The four other times she has made such an address have been to mark the Gulf War, the death of Princess Diana of Wales, the death of her mother and her Diamond Jubilee (登基六十周年纪念).
Accord win to Jonny Dymond, the BBC’s royal correspondent, “The Palace could have played it safe, stressed unity and given thanks. But this speech was designed to reassure (使安心) and inspire.”
In her pre-recorded statement, the Queen focused on the commitment of her subjects. “We have seen heart-warming stories of people coming together to help others.”
As well as thanking frontline workers, she pushed a message of comfort and motivation. “Together, we are tackling (处理) this disease, and I want to reassure you that if we remain united and resolute (坚决的), then we will overcome it.”
“We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return; we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.”
Following the speech, people throughout the country voiced their admiration for her moving words.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan praised the Queen’s focus on frontline healthcare workers, and councilor (议员) Oliver Cooper wrote, “Nobody could have rallied (振作) the country,, the Commonwealth, and the world the way the Queen did.”
Some Internet users even shared how they cried after the speech, while others wrote the words of the national anthem. God Save the Queen.
Indeed, the wisdom of Britain’s 93-ycar-old monarch (君主) offered hope to the millions of Britons under lockdown.
1.What role does the second paragraph play?
A.To offer the latest information about the pandemic in the UK.
B.To inform the reader of the Queen’s televised address.
C.To explain why the address was delivered via television.
D.To indicate the importance of the Queen’s recent speech.
2.What does the phrase “her subjects” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A.Her family. B.The stories she told.
C.The topics in her speech. D.The citizens under her rule.
3.What are Paragraphs 7-9 mainly about?
A.The focus of the Queen’s speech.
B.The public’s reaction to the Queen’s speech.
C.How the Queen delivered the speech.
D.To whom the speech was addressed.
4.What can we conclude from the text?
A.The UK has never experienced a tougher time.
B.The palace should have played it safe.
C.The Queen’s speech has served its purpose.
D.The Queen was calling on the whole world to unite against CO VID-19.
One of the things that I have learned during my time here is that Czech people are really good at celebrating and holding parties. Since I graduated this year, I have a lot of experience of seeing this first-hand. The greatest event for us was definitely the prom (毕业舞会) held for graduating students. Girls started arranging their gowns (礼服) a year beforehand. Graduating students also needed to give their “Midnight Surprise” (a group performance). One interesting thing was that students from every class were holding a huge colorful bag and people had to throw money into it. I didn’t get any sleep that night because we all went to an after-party with our teachers and friends.
At the end of April, we held the traditional activity called “The Last Ringing”, which lasted for two days. Every class had a theme and graduates wore different costumes. We prepared tasty desserts and food to sell. We broke into one classroom after another asking students to give us money, which might seem insane but it is part of the tradition.
By the end of May, we had already finished all of the final exams and we started preparing for the graduation ceremony. It was held in the conference hall (会场) in our school at five o’clock in the afternoon. Parents could come, too. We got our graduation certificate in a gray folder (文件夹) from our class teacher, and we also shook hands with the headmaster. When I received my certificate, I almost teared up-I didn’t want to say goodbye to them or to the school.
That wasn’t the last celebration though. After four days, our class invited all of our teachers to come to a farewell dinner at an Italian restaurant. We used all of the money we collected from the prom and “The Last Ringing” to order pizzas and champagne. We all talked and ate together.
A year ago, we were all complaining and hoping that high school would end. But I felt sad when the time finally came and it was over. We have officially left our school. I keep telling myself that everything has an ending. This journey was amazing. Although it has come to an end, I will always keep the memories I made close to my heart. I won’t ever forget them.
1.What did the author find interesting about the Czech prom?
A.Boys and girls exchanged gifts.
B.Students were required to make gowns by themselves.
C.Students had to bring homemade food.
D.Students used a colorful bag to collect money.
2.What does the underlined word “insane” mean?
A.Reasonable. B.Crazy.
C.Unusual. D.Wonderful.
3.Which would the author probably agree with?
A.She is determined to apply to a Czech university.
B.She should have worked harder at school.
C.She values the wonderful memories from high school.
D.She prefers the farewell party over the “The Last Ringing”.
We take showers and use the toilet every day to get rid of bodily waste. Our brains also need to take a bath every day. How can they do it?
A 2013 study found the answer. Researchers at the US University of Rochester studied the brains of mice and discovered that they cleaned themselves while the mice slept. A kind of fluid (液体) in the brain, called cerebral spinal fluid (CSF, 脑脊液), was found to increase dramatically (显著地) during sleep, washing away waste proteins that had been building up between brain cells in waking hours.
“This study shows that the brain has different functional states when asleep and when awake,” Maiken Nedergaard, the lead researcher, told NBC News. It also explains why we can’t seem to think clearly after a sleepless night while a good night’s sleep leaves us feeling sharp and refreshed.
Now a new study, published on Oct. 31 in Science, digs a little deeper into our brains’ self-cleaning procedure. Instead of mice, this time humans were the test subjects.
Researchers at Boston University, US, monitored the brainwaves of 13 healthy adults who were sleeping, using accelerated FMRI (核磁共振成像), which is capable of recording faster changes inside the brain than a regular FMRI machine. They found that every 20 seconds, blood flowed out of the brain, making room for a large amount of CSF to come in and “clean”. This cycle coincided with (与....一致) the rhythm of the brain’s slow waves—an electrical activity that happens when we’re in a deep sleep.
It’s still unknown how these brain activities are connected. But the mere fact that they are connected is exciting enough, since it allows researchers to piece together (拼凑出) possible new explanations for misunderstood diseases.
For example, slow-wave sleep has been proven to play a role in strengthening our memories. This may explain why people with Alzheimer (阿尔茨海默病) often have fewer and weaker slow brainwaves. Based on this new study, there could be one more explanation for diseased brains: They are not clean.
Nedergaard, leader of the 2013 study, is also excited about the new findings. “Maybe the most important take-home message is that sleep is a serious thing,” she told Scientific American. “You really need to sleep to keep a healthy brain because it links electrical activities to a practical ‘housekeeping’ function.”
1.What did the researchers find when they studied the brains of mice?
A.CSF in their brains decreased when the mice slept.
B.More waste proteins were produced in their brains during sleep.
C.CSF carried away waste proteins in their brains during sleep.
D.The more CSF was in their brains, the fewer proteins were there.
2.What did the researchers discover when they monitored human brainwaves?
A.It took 20 seconds for CSF to clean brains.
B.Brains were “cleaned” when blood flowed out.
C.The rhythm of the brain was slower than that of CSF.
D.The brains worked more slowly when asleep.
3.What are the last three paragraphs mainly about?
A.The significance of the research.
B.The features of slow-wave sleep.
C.The importance of having a good sleep.
D.The connections between these brain activities.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped al a gas station about 50 miles away from
Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收银台）,I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would lake me to my friend's. We chatted on the way to the city, and I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterwards, I received a Christmas present from them, Their note that came with it said helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery (电池）was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership-a shop selling cars-was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
注意：
1, 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
I entered the shop, and one of the salesmen came to me.
Paragraph 2:
After a while, they quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it.
请认真阅读下列各小题，并根据上下文语境和所给首字母或中文的提示，写出下列各句空格中的单词，注意保持语义和形式的一致。请将答案的完整形式写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。
1.—Have you seen a lady's handbag on the__________（柜台）? I left it here a moment ago.
—What color is the bag? We found one really.
2.Only when women are enabled to become strong will our families, our economies, and our societies reach their fullest______________（潜能）。
3.According to the central bank, the new edition bills will__________（流通） in parallel with previous editions and will have the same face value.
4.About online education, in my opinion, there are many________（有效） ways of using videos in language teaching.
5.—A little disabled dog was found___________（抛弃） on the steps of the pet clinic.
—How cruel its owner is!
6.In view of lacking preparations for the competition and not wanting to lose face, Johnson e________ decided to drop out.
7.The boat whistled past, making the water in the river s___________ open.
8.It is generally a____________ that Internet addiction will have a disturbing effect on people's health and social relationships.
9.When the stranger was dragging him away, the baby reached out his hands in d__________ want of his mother.
10.—George, get down to doing your homework, OK?
—Oh, Mom. You know that I can't r_____________ watching TV.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
High on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau 1.(lie) China’s “water tower” Sanjiangyuan. It is home to the headwaters of China’s three rivers: the Yellow River, Yangtze River, and Lancang(Mekong) River. It is the three rivers 2. provide water for about half the population of China. However, human activities are putting this ecosystem 3. risk. Hopefully, though, we can repair this damage. In 2016, the Chinese government established Sanjiangyuan National Park in Qinghai province. The park, 4.(schedule) to open in 2020, has increased the area’s green coverage and attracted more wildlife. The local government has also made great effort to improve biological diversity. The success of Sanjiangyuan will mark the start of a 5.(green) future. With Sanjangyuan 6.(take) the lead, nine other regions in China 7.(choose) by a field conservation station to carry out projects over the past three years, 8. will form a national park system together. The idea of a national park system is still new in China, but9.(it) realization is urgent. After all, building an ecological civilization bears great 10.(important) in the development and progress of human civilization.
