Many people have heard the story of Nessie, Scotland’s Loch Ness monster. Yet, have you ever heard of an ice monster in the American state of Alaska?
An ice monster is what many people thought they were seeing when a federal government agency published a strange-looking video. The Bureau of Land Management put the video on its Facebook page.
The pictures were taken in Alaska, the northernmost part of the United States. While winter has yet to officially begin, weather conditions there already are very cold.
In the video, a fish with ice on its back appears to be swimming. The video was only 20 seconds long. But it was enough to get people wondering what they saw.
One person said it showed a shark that lost its way. Someone else thought the video was a prank designed to cheat people. He said the Bureau of Land Management wanted to bring attention to its Facebook page. Other people asked if the video was edited in some way, removing some images or adding others. Perhaps, they reasoned, the bureau was trying to frighten people around the celebration of Halloween. Some people said the ice monster was a large fish: a sturgeon(鲟). Someone even suggested the creature was a crocodile. But such an animal could not survive in Alaska, where it does not get very hot, even in summer. Some readers said it was ice moving in the river current, or ice that was frozen to a rope or some other object.
On October 31, the Bureau of Land Management published an update. It agreed with some of the people who commented on the original piece. An expert from the Department of Fish and Game told the bureau the picture looked “really cool”, but it was probably just ice stuck to a rope. The ice caused the rope to float and move in the river’s current.
Even though the mystery seems to be solved, some people do not seem persuaded. Others are still wishing it was a “real” monster.
1.What is the author’s main purpose in asking the question in Paragraph 1 ?
A.To encourage readers to answer it.
B.To open a discussion among readers.
C.To arouse people’s interest in Nessie.
D.To introduce the topic of the passage.
2.What does the underlined word " prank” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?
A.Puzzle. B.Dream.
C.Trick. D.Advertisement.
3.The monster couldn’t be a crocodile because .
A.a crocodile can’t swim so quickly B.the temperature is too low in Alaska
C.a crocodile only moves in summer D.it doesn’t look like a crocodile at all
4.According to the expert, what is the ice monster most likely to be?
A.A shark losing its way. B.A large fish: a sturgeon.
C.A sea creature like Nessie. D.A piece of ice frozen to a rope.
Getting around in Australia
You know Australia is a big country, but you may not know how easy it is to get around. The untouched beaches that go for miles and deserts that touch the horizon are just there, waiting to be reached and explored. Following are the different ways you can explore our vast country.
Air
Flying is the best way to cover large distances in a short time. You can spend more time on the Australia's can’t-miss landscapes and relaxing lifestyle. Moreover, competition among airlines makes great flying fees available for you.
Drive
Australia has a vast network of well-maintained roads and some of the most beautiful touring routes in the world. You have no difficulty finding car rental companies at major airports, central city locations, suburbs and attractions.
Bus
Bus travel in Australia is comfortable, easy and economical. Buses generally have air conditioning ,reading lights, adjustable seats and videos. Services are frequent, affordable and efficient.
Rail
Train travel is the cheapest and gives you an insight into Australians size and variety, all from the comfort of your carriage. Scheduled services are a great way to get quickly between our cities and regional centers.
Ferry
The Spirit of Tasmania runs a passenger and vehicle ferry service between Melbourne and Tasmania nightly. Extra services are running during summer rush hours. Sea Jink ferries connect South Australia and Kangaroo Island several times a day. Ferries connect suburbs in our capital cities.
Walk
With easy — on — the — feet pedestrian streets, walking is a great way to get around our cities.
Besides all of above, you can also experience some of the longest tracks and trails in the world in central Australia — impressive journeys of a thousand kilometers or more that can take several weeks to complete.
1.If you have only 5 days and want to visit Australia's famous attractions that are far away from each other, which way of travelling best suits you?
A.By air. B.By car. C.By bus. D.On foot.
2.Ferry service between Melbourne and Tasmania usually runs .
A.only during rush hours B.at night hours
C.several times a day D.in summer
3.Which of the following is TRUE about travelling in Australia?
A.More travelers make the flying fees among airlines higher than before.
B.You can easily rent a car to explore its most beautiful touring routes.
C.Taking a bus tour is the most comfortable, economical and efficient way.
D.Train services can offer you more comfort than any other means of transport.
假定你是红星中学高三学生李华，你们学校本学期举行“德智体美劳全面发展”的系列主题活动，请根据 以下图的先后顺序，给学校英语报刊投稿，记述活动过程。
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假如你是李华，你的美国朋友Tom参加“汉语桥（Chinese Bridge）”世界大学生中文比赛，获得赛区一等奖进入决赛，现在准备决赛当中的中华才艺展示环节，来信向你咨询，请你给他回信，内容如下：
1.表示祝贺；
2.推荐一项中华才艺展示内容及理由；
注意：词数不少于50；
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Compulsory citywide garbage sorting began in Beijing in April, aided by new guidelines for residents and the start of a three-month inspection campaign to monitor enforcement. The strict garbage sorting rules require residents to classify their domestic trash into four different categories: kitchen waste, recyclables, hazardous waste and other waste. 1.
Communities and villages across the capital must set up four different colored trash bins. 2. To help residents better classify their domestic trash, four supporting measures would specify the management standards and implementation procedures for classifying garbage. For example, a guideline released in April advised residents to have two trash bins and one garbage bag at home to make the separation of different kinds of waste more convenient.
3. The inspection, lasting until the end of July, will focus on mixed waste and its dumping and transport. Meanwhile, the city's market supervision authorities will begin a three-month crackdown on the illegal use and sale of plastic bags.
Under the newly revised domestic waste regulation, supermarkets, shopping malls and trade markets may no longer use super thin or free plastic bags. 4.
By the end of March, there were 44 domestic waste treatment facilities in Beijing, capable of handling 32,711 metric tons of trash a day, the capital's urban management authorities said. The capital collected 10.11 million tons of household waste last year.
Some residential communities in Beijing have introduced incentives（激励）to encourage residents to sort their garbage. 5. Some communities had explored new ways of reusing kitchen waste as fertilizer for the residents' rooftop garden.
A.Law enforcement agencies will launch a three-month inspection to monitor compliance with compulsory trash sorting.
B.Those who fail to sort their garbage properly could face fines of up to 200 yuan （$28）.
C.The community acquired a trash treatment machine last year that can recycle some kitchen waste to produce organic soil in 24 hours as fertilizer for potted plants.
D.Restaurants and hotels must stop offering disposable items unless customers request them.
E.Residents can earn points by classifying their domestic waste correctly and then exchange the points they accumulate for daily necessities such as napkins and soap.
F.The treatment facility makes residents more familiar with the processing of garbage and spur their enthusiasm for trash sorting.
G.Green bins will be for kitchen waste, blue ones for recyclables, red for hazardous waste and gray for other waste.
The cancer death rate in the U.S. fell by the most on record as advances in treatments for lung tumors （肿瘤） like video-assisted surgery helped prolong the lives of patients.
The death rate from cancer has been gradually declining for 26 years, thanks in large part to fewer people smoking cigarettes. But from 2016 to 2017, the most recent period available, it dropped by 2.2%, the most ever in a single year, according to a report released Wednesday by the American Cancer Society. That compares with an average 1.5% yearly decline over the decade. The drop translates to roughly 2.9 million fewer cancer deaths than would have occurred had death rates remained at their peak. For lung cancer specifically, the death rate declined 4.3% annually from 2013 to 2017.
"It is really lung cancer that is driving this," said Rebecca Siegel, scientific director of surveillance research at the American Cancer Society, and lead author on the new study. "We found increases in survival for lung cancer at every stage in diagnosis.”, She attributed the lower deaths to improvements in treatments, including video-assisted surgery that enables more patients with early lung tumors to become eligible for operations; more precise radiation treatment; and better scanning technology that allows doctors to better assess the stage of tumor, so the patient gets the best treatment right away. At later stages of illness, new, targeted drugs that aim at specific disease-causing genes are helping patients whose tumors have those genetic flaws （缺陷）.Overall, lung cancer death rates have dropped by 51% for men since their peak in 1990, and by 26% for women since their peak in 2002.
There's the potential for more progress in future reports. That's because the latest death-rate statistics go only through 2017, and likely don't include the potential impact in lung cancer death from immune-therapy drugs. They became widely used in lung cancer only in the past few years.
The report, based on U.S. government data, isn't all good news. Prostate （前列腺）cancer death rates have leveled off recently after a period of decline. That may be because many doctors pulled back on using the controversial prostate-specific antigen test, or PSA, which can spot the disease but can lead to over-treatment of men who may never have died from their tumors.
"Though it was definitely causing harm, it was also contributing to declines in death," Siegel said. What's needed now is better screening tests to detect only the prostate cancers that will go on to cause harm.
Population death rates are considered one of the most reliable ways of measuring progress in cancer treatment and prevention. By contrast, cancer survival rates can sometimes be influenced by improvements in diagnosing tiny, early stage tumors that wouldn't necessarily be deadly.
1.According to paragraph 2, ______.
A.cancer death rate reached its peak in 2017
B.death rate decreases over the past 2 decades
C.2.9 million people die of cancer in America every year
D.most of the cancer patients in America suffer from lung cancer
2.We can learn from the passage that ______.
A.female death rate of lung cancer drops more than that of male
B.targeted drugs have led to rapid increase in cancer death rates
C.better scanning technology will lead to improvement in treating genetic flaws
D.improper use of prostate-specific antigen test can lead to over-treatment of men
3.The underlined expression "level off” in paragraph 5 means ______.
A.remain unchanged B.show up
C.take off D.become sharp
4.What might be the best title of the passage?
A.Medical Progress Prolonging Patients’ Lives
B.Cancer Death Rates Dropping at the Fastest Pace
C.Significant Improvement in Treating Lung Cancer
D.Advanced Technologies Applied in Cancer Treatment
