Making a Difference
One day a man was walking along the seashore. He noticed that during the night many seashells and starfish had_______up on the shore. Thoroughly_______the morning sun and cool sea air, the man walked for miles along the sand.
Far off in the distance, he saw a small_______dancing. The man was_______that someone was celebrating life in such a graceful and free manner. As he_______closer,however, it seemed that the figure was not dancing, but repeatedly performing some act.
Approaching the small figure, the man noticed that it was a_______.The girl was methodically_______up starfish from the shore and throwing them back into the surf. The man paused for a moment,_______ then asked, "Why are you throwing those starfish back into the ocean?”
“If I leave these starfish on the beach,” she replied, “the sun will_______them, and they will die. I am throwing them back into the ocean because I want them to____________.”
The man was thoughtful for a____________impressed with the child's____________Then he motioned up and down the miles and miles of beach and said, “There must be____________of starfish along here! How can you____________expect to make a difference?”
The young girl thought about the man's____________for a moment, then she slowly leaned over, reached down, and carefully picked up____________starfish from the sand. With a____________effort, she threw the____________back out into the surf.
She turned to the man and____________ “You may be right,” she said, “but I made a difference____________ that one!”
1.A.climbed B.jumped C.washed D.picked
2.A.bathing B.watching C.breathing D.enjoying
3.A.starfish B.figure C.seashell D.man
4.A.glad B.worried C.scared D.angry
5.A.swam B.drew C.danced D.became
6.A.starfish B.fish C.child D.fisherman
7.A.looking B.beating C.following D.picking
8.A.puzzled B.delighted C.shocked D.confirmed
9.A.warm B.dry C.break D.light
10.A.die B.drown C.live D.swim
11.A.moment B.day C.mile D.life
12.A.wisdom B.consideration C.bravery D.cleverness
13.A.several B.few C.none D.millions
14.A.happily B.surely C.possibly D.slightly
15.A.words B.action C.effort D.voice
16.A.some B.another C.many D.no
17.A.terrible B.huge C.nice D.gentle
18.A.man B.words C.sand D.starfish
19.A.said B.laughed C.smiled D.waved
20.A.for B.about C.in D.at
Ancient Rome was one of the world’s most powerful empires more than 2,000 years ago. The Romans’ Ideas about roads, laws, government and buildings still influence us today. Italy is shaped like a boot.
The Colosseum (角斗场) in Rome was built during the time of the Roman Empire, in the first century A.D. 1.. It is a popular tourist attraction today.
Italy is well-known for its designers, who create cars, handbags, clothes, shoes and other items that are in demand for their style and fine workmanship.
Today, the economy of Italy is stronger than in the past. 2.. Today, manufacturing and tourism are the main sources of income. There are some big companies, but Italy has many smaller companies, too. 3.. The southern part does not offer as many manufacturing jobs, so it is not as prosperous.
Italy is a member of the European Union, a group of countries that join together for better trade. The currency, or money, they use is called the “euro”.
Food and eating good meals are important to Italians. 4.. Popular foods include pasta, risotto, minestrone and pizza. McDonald’s is also popular there.
Many families still eat their main meal in the middle of the day. 5.. Families spend a lot of time together.
A.The family is very important to the Italian way of life.
B.The country used to depend on agriculture.
C.Mountains cover about three-fourths of the country.
D.It could seat about 50,000 people, who went to see fights between animals and people.
E.While there are some supermarkets, many people shop at small, neighborhood markets.
F.Italy has several islands off the coast.
G.The northern part of the country is the main manufacturing center.
Most of the new diseases we humans have faced in the past several decades have come from animals. The more we come into contact with wild animals, the more we risk a so-called disease “spillover” from animals to humans.
“As people move and wildlife move in response to a changing environment, humans and wildlife and animals will come in contact more regularly,” said Jeanne Fair from the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. Fair argues that by shifting animal habitats, climate change will also make the opportunities for disease spillover more frequent. “Everything is sort of shifting and will shift into the future as the environment changes through climate change,” Fair said.
Scientists, including climatologists and epidemiologists on Fair’s team at Los Alamos, are beginning to model how changes to the climate will impact the spread of infectious diseases. It’s early days for this kind of research, but previous studies suggest that extreme weather has already played a role in at least one outbreak. Scientists say drought and deforestation have combined to force bats out of rainforests and into orchards（果园）in Malaysia to find food. Those bats, a common disease reservoir, then passed the Nipah virus through pigs to humans for the first time in the late 1990s.
“We’re going by the past data to really predict what’s going to happen in the future,” Fair said, “And so, anytime you increase that wildlife-human interface, that’s sort of an emerging disease hot spot. And so, that’s just increasing as we go forward.”
Jeffrey Shaman, head of the climate and health program at Columbia University’s public health school, argues we don’t yet know whether climate change will cause a net increase in infectious disease rates globally. For example, mosquitoes carry disease that affects millions of people across the world every year. As their habitats expand in some parts of the world, they might contract diseases elsewhere. Shaman says what we know for certain about climate change is that it will make it harder to predict where disease outbreaks will pop up.
1.How does climate change affect the spread of disease according to Fair?
A.By breaking animals’ habits.
B.By increasing animals’ varieties.
C.By promoting animals’ breeding.
D.By changing animals’ living environment.
2.What is the example of bats for in paragraph 3?
A.Explaining the influence of Nipah virus.
B.Proving the harm of bats to human beings.
C.Showing the effects of climate change on disease.
D.Presenting scientists’ early study about the cause of disease.
3.What can we infer from Fair’s words in paragraph 4?
A.Humans should give up studying animals.
B.Past data can solve the problems in the future.
C.Disease hot spots will disappear if animals die out.
D.Frequent contact with animals can cause disease outbreaks.
4.What could be the best title for the text?
A.Climate Change and Disease Spillover
B.Animals’ Interaction with Humans
C.Scientists’ Prediction for Disease Outbreaks
D.Early Studies about Extreme Weather
Many young people these days adore the advertised magazine body and become too focused on attaining this image instead of worrying more about what lasts and even grows over time. But could you imagine being considered beautiful for years, and suddenly being ugly after moving to another continent? It is a sad reality that people don't realize how vacillating the idea of beauty can be from one country to another.
Think of the most typical American girl you know. Is she blondehaired with white skin and light blue eyes, and does she love shopping or sports? Now place this girl in the heart of Africa, where beauty is placed on what you can control. The Maasai tribe in Kenya focuses on how clean people are, and how stylish their piercings(穿孔) are. This tribe's culture is to be a brave fighter, so they will cut their skin with patterns in it to show that they are strong. If you don't look fierce, you are not beautiful.
Other countries like North Korea and South Korea have their own unique views on beauty. In an interview, a woman who has lived in both North Korea and South Korea claims that beauty in North Korea is based more on your ability to be a good woman and wife. She says that women in North Korea are less concerned about fashion and beauty in the physical sense. She says they did have a time when big eyes were a big deal and everyone wanted to get double eyelid surgery. This is something extreme and could perhaps be influenced by Western culture. But don't you think the idea of getting surgery done to look more attractive is crazy?
1.What does the underlined word “vacillating” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A.different B.reasonable.
C.unusual. D.similar.
2.The Maasai tribe in Kenya is mentioned to show that in their eyes ________.
A.getting dirty is stylish
B.looking fierce is beautiful
C.strong people cut their skin
D.American girls love shopping
3.According to the woman interviewed，women in North Korea now ________.
A.care a lot about their appearance
B.put the beauty of eyes in the first place
C.pay great attention to their ability
D.are crazy about double eyelid surgery
4.What does the text mainly tell us?
A.Inner beauty is of great importance.
B.Ideas of beauty vary among culture groups.
C.Different ways are needed to admire true beauty.
D.Fashion magazines easily influence young people.
A Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, will be the first man to fly on a SpaceX rocket for an about seven-day trip around the Moon as early as 2023, and he plans to bring six to eight artists along.
Maezawa, 42, will have been the first moon traveller since the last US Apollo task in 1972. He paid a large amount of money for the trip. “Ever since I was a kid, I have loved the Moon,” he said. “This is my lifelong dream.”
Maezawa is CEO of Japan's largest online fashion mall. He is the founder of ZOZO,a global company based in Japan where people can buy clothing online. His another hobby is collecting valuable works of modern art.
His love for art led him to decide to invite artists to come along. He said, “I would like to invite six to eight artists from around the world to join me on this mission to the Moon. They will be asked to create something after they return to the earth. These masterpieces will inspire the people who have dreams.”
The first space tourist was Dennis Tito, an American businessman who in 2001 paid some 20 million dollars to fly on a Russian spaceship to the International Space Station.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk described Maezawa as the bravest and best adventurer. “He stepped forward,” Musk added. “We are honored that he chose us.” Musk said he would not make known the price for the Moon trip, but said it would be “free for the artists”.
“This is dangerous, to be clear. This is no walk in the park,” Musk warned. “There is a chance something could go wrong.”
1.According to the text, Yusaku Maezawa__________.
A.will be the first space tourist in the world.
B.owns the world's largest online fashion mall.
C.has dreamed of travelling to the moon since childhood.
D.plans to spend seven days walking on the moon.
2.What made Maezawa decide to invite some artists to come along?
A.His strong love for art. B.his dream of becoming an artist.
C.His hobby of collecting rocket models. D.his idea of making a meaningful journey.
3.What will the artists be expected to do according to the text?
A.Create unusual art works after the journey. B.Pay for their own journey.
C.Explore their imagination in space. D.Inspire people to become dreamers.
4.What Musk said in the last paragraph means__________.
A.tourists might go in a wrong direction. B.tourists might lose their lives.
C.tourists are sure of their safety. D.tourists have a chance to live in space.
Heroic mother cat Lele gave birth to four kittens at home and lived alone for over 50 days in Wuhan, when its owners, a family of seven, were in hospital for treatment of novel coronavirus. In late January, Lele's owner, surnamed Chen, was infected with novel coronavirus and has been in hospital since then. Several days later, Chen's father, and five other family members all tested positive for the virus, leaving pregnant cat mom Lele alone at home.
For fear of cross-infection, Chen didn't ask friends to take care of Lele, but prepared two bags of cat food weighing about 24 pounds and some water at home.
As he gradually recovered in the hospital, worries about Lele, the expectant mother, always haunted him.
Fifty-four days later, when Chen' s family got back home, they were surprised to find Lele had already given birth to four kittens.
The four were healthy and active and have been weaning (断奶) from their mother's. According to Chen, Lele survived on the cat food and water found in a fish pond on the balcony. Since no one cleaned up for such a long time, the cat litter box has gone messy and smelly.
In memory of the special experience, Chen named the four kittens ''Xiaowu'', ''Hanhan'', ''Xiaojia'' and ''Youyou'', which together mean ''Wuhan, fighting'' in Chinese, hoping the city could stay strong and return to normal soon.
Lele's story went viral (迅速传播) on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, and won over 366,000 likes. A Douyin user commented, "God bless the poor cats! Good luck to you, another netizen commented, ''What a kind family! Please don't abandon pets because of the virus outbreak. ''
1.How did LeLe survive during its owner's absence?
A.By being looked after by Chen's friends. B.By the cat food left and water in a fish pond.
C.With the help of the doctors in the hospital. D.With the help of its four babies.
2.Which of the following is not correct?
A.All the members in Chen's family were not infected with the novel coronavius
B.The birth of the four kittens was an inspiration for Chen's family.
C.Both the cat LeLe and its babies were strong and healthy.
D.LeLe got popular among Chinese netizens.
3.The text mainly tells us___________.
A.how a family took good care of their pet cat.
B.how Wuhan people fought against the novel coronavirus.
C.that a cat saved its owner.
D.that a brave cat gives birth alone when owners in hospital.
