Staying connected
When Central Bucks South became one of the first Philadelphia-area high schools to close because of the fear of novel coronavirus exposure in early March, 16-year-old sophomore Andrew Chen knew that things were not going to return to normal as quickly as some of his peers hoped.
But still, the change from seeing his friends on the swim team during daily practices to learning alone at home was jarring.
“I only have three years here at South, and it pains me to see one of them being wasted,” Chen said.
The coronavirus has changed everyone’s lives, but for students, the disruption feels particularly serious. Schools closed and graduation ceremonies were put off. Summer plans, such as camps, are up in the air.
But right now, many students are trying to stay connected, struggling with false information, and finding out the best ways they can help – through online method.
For Josh Harycki, 17, a senior student at the Shipley School in Philadelphia, the best way to help was to create a “social distancing promise” for young people.
“I saw a lot of young people not paying attention,” he said. “They were … still going out, hanging out with others. I thought that there had to be a way to reach younger people, who were possibly not watching the news.”
Harycki started a call to action on social media and then built a website with a map that followed and kept the locations of people who’d signed the promise. The site also shares links to accurate sources of information like the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Harycki knows that his peers are worried they can’t connected with their friends in the same way, so he created the social distancing promise to strengthen that although everyone might be physically distant, they’re still connected.
“Part of what we’re showing is that you might feel like you’re the only one taking this seriously, but our map shows that you’re not alone,” he said.
1.What does the underlined word “jarring” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?
A.natural
B.necessary
C.worrying
D.reasonable
2.Who does Harycki mainly want to reach?
A.Friends who are worried and bored.
B.Young people not aware of the situation.
C.Younger students trying to help.
D.People taking the coronavirus seriously.
3.What’s Harycki’s purpose in creating the “social distancing promise”?
A.To order young people to stay at home.
B.To follow those infected with the coronavirus.
C.To tell young folks of latest news about the coronavirus.
D.To show young people that they are still connected.
4.Why does the author describe Andrew Chen’s experience in the text?
A.To explain what worried students most when schools closed.
B.To show the different views of students toward the coronavirus.
C.To show how the coronavirus affected students’ lives.
D.To explain the proper reaction to the close of school.
Throughout most states of the USA, there are countless secret swimming holes, and following are 4 of them.
Havasu Falls (Arizona) | This attractive waterfall in the Grand Canyon is undoubtedly a destination spot requiring a 10-mile walk to the falls. You can take a guided tour to the falls, or make it on your own. The Havasu Falls are on the Havasupai Indian Reservation, which means you'll need to get a permit to visit — this has become increasingly difficult as more people discover this hidden place. |
Hamilton Pool (Austin) | Hamilton Pool was created when an underground river's roof fell down suddenly; exposing what is now the swimming hole and creating a 50-foot waterfall that flows over the above limestone(石灰岩). You'll have to reserve beforehand to gain entry to the Hamilton Pool Preserve. |
Chutes and Ladders (Maui) | To get to this secret swimming hole, you'll have to take a rope 40 feet down the face of a cliff, and then climb down about 8 feet of lava rock to the pool. Once there, however, you'll be glad you made the journey. The swimming hole is on the edge of the ocean — a natural pool, you could say — with a depth that invites you to jump in without crowds of people around to watch. |
Homestead Crater (Utah) | The Homestead Crater is hidden under a rock dome(圆顶) with an opening at the top that allows for sunlight and air. It was once only accessible by that top opening, but there is now easy access through a side path for visitors. Go for a swim in this beautiful mineral water spring. |
1.People need an official written statement to visit _________.
A.Havasu Falls B.Hamilton Pool
C.Chutes and Ladders D.Homestead Crater
2.What do you need to get to Chutes and Ladders?
A.A tour guide. B.An invitation.
C.More outdoor skills. D.Reservation in advance.
3.Which of the following can best describe the four places?
A.They are hidden in remote areas. B.They are shaped by limestone.
C.They are created by local people. D.They are accessible through a hole.
假设你是北京市某中学的学生李华，请根据以下提示，针对北京市遭沙尘暴袭击的情况，向某英语报社写一封信，呼吁大家植树造林，保护环境。
1. 过去家乡树木成林：如今人们毁林种地建房；
2. 气候变化，土地沙漠化；
3. 植树造林，人人有责。
注意：1. 词数100左右：开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头语已为你写好。
Dear Editor,
I’m a student at a middle school of Beijing.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
Monkeys surprise us
Humans are the most intelligent animals on Earth. 1.But sometimes, our way of thinking can become an obstacle (障碍).
Julia Watzek, a graduate student in psychology at Georgia State University, US, recently did some research on the problem-solving abilities of both monkeys and humans.2.They intended to test their ability to change their strategies(策略) in the game. In this game, each player was shown four squares on a computer screen: one striped square, one spotted square and two blank squares. While being trained to play the game, they learned that clicking the stripedsquare and then the spotted square would cause a blue triangle to pop up in one of the blank squares. Clicking on the blue triangle would give them a reward. 3. But partway through the game, the researchers introduced a shortcut (捷径). Suddenly, the blue triangle started appearing at the start of gameplay, alongside the striped and spotted squares.4.Remarkably, about 70 percent of the monkeys figured out this shortcut immediately. 5. Only 1 out of 56 human players figured out the shortcut right away.
Watzek’s conclusion was that humans tend to get “stuck in their ways” when it comes to strategic thinking. Things such as standardized testing and formal schooling might cause humans to use the same strategy over and over, even when it doesn’t work very well.
A.Monkeys never did better than human.
B.She and her team had them play a simple game.
C.The spotted square didn’t appear at all till the end.
D.Humans, on the other hand, were slow to figure it out.
E.We have mental abilities that other animals don’t have.
F.If a player clicked on the blue triangle, they’d receive their reward right away.
G.Human players would hear a “woop!” sound and monkey players would receive a snack.
Wal-Mart is not just the world’s largest retailer(零售商). It’s the world’s largest company, which sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year.
Wal-Mart exercises its power for just one purpose: to bring the lowest possible prices to its customers. At Wal-Mart, that goal is never reached. The retailer has a clear policy for suppliers: On basic products that don’t change, the price Wal-Mart will pay, and will charge shoppers, must drop year after year. But what almost no one outside the world of Wal-Mart and none of its 21,000 suppliers know is the high cost of those low prices. To survive in the face of its pricing demands, makers of everything from bikes to jeans have had to close US plants in favor of obtaining products from abroad.
Indeed, the real story of Wal-Mart, the story that never gets told, is the story of the pressure the biggest retailer constantly applies to its suppliers in the name of bringing us “every day low prices”.
The giant retailer’s low prices often come with a high cost. Wal-Mart’s pressure can crush the companies it does business with and force them to send jobs overseas. Are we shopping our way straight to the unemployment line? Of course, US companies have been moving jobs offshore for decades; long before Wal-Mart was a retailing power. But there is no question that the chain is helping accelerate the loss of American jobs to low-wage countries such as Thailand.
People ask, “How can it be bad for things to come into the US cheaply?” Sure, it’s great to have bargains. But you can’t buy anything if you’ re not employed.
There is no question that Wal-Mart’s drive to squeeze out cost has benefited consumers. By now, it is accepted wisdom that Wal-Mart makes the companies it does business with more efficient and focused. Wal-Mart itself is known for continuous improvement in its ability to handle, move, and track goods. It is legendary for forcing its suppliers to redesign everything from their packaging to their computer systems. It is also legendary for quite straightforwardly telling them what it will pay for their goods.
1.Wal-Mart’s low-price policy results in .
A.more high-paying jobs B.worse designed packages
C.bigger profit of its partners D.more jobless American workers
2.What does the underline word “offshore” in the passage mean?
A.In abroad. B.In the Ocean.
C.On the beach. D.On an island not far from shore.
3.What can we infer from the passage?
A.Still more quality goods will be provided. B.The food you get at Wal-Mart costs least.
C.The value of Mal-Mart is over assessed. D.Wal-Mart is a very demanding company.
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A.The Fortune Wal-Mart Makes B.The Wal-Mart you don’t Know
C.The Biggest Retailer—Wal-Mart D.The Money Saving Tip in Wal-Mart
Sort trash, save Earth
You might not think much about where your garbage goes. But now you might want to know. On July 1, Shanghai introduced a new garbage-sorting policy (垃圾分类政策). People there need to put different kinds of garbage into different bins. Other cities in China will do the same soon.
Why is garbage sorting a big problem? It’s because there is too much garbage these days. It is bad for our soil, air and water. Actually we can make use of some garbage again.
And first, we need to sort our garbage. For example, if you put an old battery into the “harmful waste” bin, people can use it to make new batteries. But if you don’t, the battery will end up somewhere else. Then, it will pollute the environment.
Can’t factories sort garbage for us? Yes, they can. But it takes many workers to do this and costs lots of money. If we all sort our own garbage, things will become much easier.
Garbage sorting and recycling around the world
• Germany: There are big machines in supermarkets. You can put bottles in the machines and get money back. You can get one to two yuan per bottle. People like this because they can get money and protect the environment at the same time.
• Japan: A trash truck comes to people’s doors to pick up their garbage. It plays music when it’s coming. There are eight or more kinds of garbage. If you sort any of them wrong, you will get a notice on your door.
• Indonesia: People can take buses for free if they give plastic bottles to bus stations. An hour-long bus ride costs three large bottles, five medium bottles or 10 plastic cups. But the bottles must be clean.
• Shanghai: Four kinds of garbage in Shanghai
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Recyclable garbage includes paper, books, boxes, newspapers, and glass bottles. | Harmful garbage includes lamps, batteries, nail polish (指甲油 ), and other things with harmful chemicals. | Wet garbage usually comes from the kitchen, such as food, vegetables, flowers, leaves and eggshells. | Dry garbage is anything you cannot put into the other three bins. It includes pens, toilet paper, tape, hair, and towels. |
1.What can we learn from Paragraph 1?
A.Many other cities in China have garbage-sorting policies.
B.Many people don’t like Shanghai’s garbage-sorting policy.
C.Shanghai is the first city in China to make a garbage-sorting policy.
D.China is the first country in the world to make a garbage-sorting policy.
2.With the battery example, the writer tries to tell us .
A.how to sort our garbage
B.the importance of sorting our garbage
C.what harmful waste is
D.the difficulty of sorting our garbage
3.Why can’t we ask factories to sort garbage?
A.Because we don’t have this kind of factory.
B.Because factories ask for too much money.
C.Because it takes too many workers to do it.
D.Because not all garbage can go to factories.
4.In which country can people take buses for free if they give plastic bottles to bus stations?
A.Germany. B.Indonesia. C.Japan. D.China.
