Travelers to the Arctic islands of Svalbard would find a rough, ice-hardened land, sheltering polar bears in its frozen landscapes. This group of Norwegian islands is the land of the “midnight sun” with almost 24 hours of sunlight during the winter months. It is also home to one of the most important storage facilities in world farming — the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
The seed vault was opened in 2008 in an effort to safeguard the world’s food supply for future generations. Svalbard is the perfect frozen environment to house seed samples, set inside an Arctic mountain at 130 meters above sea level, so it is unlikely to be flooded. Low humidity , geological stability, and the surrounding permafrost can keep seed-keeping places cool, dry, and usable for centuries.
Seed gene banks from around the world have sent food crops seeds for safety in case a natural disaster or environmental damage destroys existing supplies. Worldwide there are more than 1.700 seed gene banks that store seeds locally and many choose to send back-up samples to facilities like the Svalbard’s vault.
There is space in the global vault for 4.5 million different crop varieties with each variety storing on average 500 seeds, meaning it can house 2.5 billon seeds. There are around one million seed samples from 80 institutes in the vault at present so there is a lot of spare capacity for the vegetables, grains, peas and beans that are banked annually. On the top of that, there are rare flowers from the Myanmar rain forests.
The largest numbers of samples in the vault are varieties of rice and wheat. The seed vault has been listed as one of the most influential projects of the past 50 years for its efforts. Seeds themselves are not kept for farmers or gardeners to grow produce. Their true value is as a genetic resource in plant upbringing to create new crop varieties.
1.What makes Svalbard a global seed vault?
A.Its eco-friendly tourism. B.Its rich supplies of food.
C.Its favorable environment. D.Its strong sunlight in winter.
2.Why do many seed gene banks send food crop seeds to the Svalbard’s vault?
A.To protect them from climate changes. B.To exchange them for new crop seeds.
C.To make sure of the safety of food supplies. D.To compare them with new crop varieties.
3.What can be inferred about the Svalbard’s vault from Paragraph 4?
A.It values plant different types of plant. B.It has little space for newcomers.
C.It is costly for most institutes. D.It sees a big increase in seed samples every year.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To explain how to store seeds safely. B.To introduce an influential seed vault.
C.To seek sponsors for world seed vaults. D.To call on seed institutes to work together.
Former Starbucks Chairman and CEO Howard Schultz grew up in a poor family in New York City. As a child, he could hardly dream about starting an international business. In 1961, the whole family was left with no income because his father broke an ankle working as a truck driver. Watching his father lying on the bed, Schultz decided to do something different in life. Schultz played football in high school and managed to get an athletic scholarship to Northern Michigan University. He became the first graduate from university in his family.
Schultz’s first job after finishing school was in sales at Xerox，where he sold word processors. Then he took another job in sales at Hammarplast, a housewares（家居用品）business. However, he grew impatient with these two jobs soon. Schultz first came across Starbucks while still working for Hammarplast. He was struck by the passion（热情）and courage of the founders Gerald Baldwin and Gordon Bowker. It took a whole year for Schultz to persuade Baldwin and Bowker to hire him as the head of marketing. The new position meant that Schultz was going to travel around the world and represent Starbucks.
His life changed when the company sent him to an international house wares exhibition in Milan. A new idea occurred to Schultz when he saw the Italian strong coffee tradition. The people in Italy had a personal relationship with coffee. After Schultz came back to America, he wanted to replicate the Italian tradition in Starbucks. The founders felt differently. He then decided to leave Starbucks to start his own coffee company. The new company caught on quickly. Eventually, it managed to buy Starbucks. Schultz became the CEO of Starbucks. Corporation and he is one of the wealthiest people on the planet.
1.What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?
A.Schultz wasn’t well paid at Xerox.
B.Schultz himself is a coffee enthusiast.
C.Schultz wasn’t satisfied with his first two jobs.
D.Schultz had made a success of his housewares.
2.What was the turning point in Schultz’s career?
A.Starting his own coffee company.
B.Meeting the founders of Starbucks.
C.Going to an international exhibition in Milan.
D.Becoming the head of marketing of Starbucks.
3.What does the underlined word “replicate” in the last paragraph mean?
A.Appreciate. B.Copy.
C.Observe. D.Record.
4.What can we learn from passage？
A.Every coin has two sides.
B.Life is just the luck of the draw.
C.Tomorrow is another day.
D.Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.
The best thing to start your day is a good breakfast. In fact, many people believe that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. In China, porridge with pickles (咸菜), baozi, noodles, soybean milk and youtiao are common breakfast foods. What are breakfasts in other countries like? Let’s take a look!
US
In the US, a good Sunday morning starts with scrambled eggs, crispy bacon or juicy sausages, and soft pancakes with butter and sweet syrup on top. On busy weekdays, most people in the US like to eat cereal with milk, bread and fruit for breakfast. Some people also drink coffee.
Canada
Canada is the largest producer of maple syrup. People usually have pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast. Canadian bacon is a popular dish for breakfast as well. Canadian bacon is quite unlike the crispy bacon of the United States. It tastes more like ham and is served in thin round slices.
Britain
The British breakfast is similar to the American breakfast. A basic British breakfast consists of fried eggs, bacon, sausages, mushrooms, baked (烘) beans, and tomatoes. These foods are popular among young people in Britain. Usually, British people have coffee, tea or milk to drink. Some people also like to drink orange juice.
Japan
Most people in Japan these days – at least in big cities – eat a quick Western-style breakfast like eggs, toast, juice and coffee. Those who prefer more traditional foods are likely to have tea and miso soup with rice. Steamed rice is necessary for a Japanese-style breakfast. People also add nori seaweed or a little raw egg to their rice.
1.On busy weekday mornings, most people in the US prefer _____.
A.scrambled eggs, crispy bacon or juicy sausages
B.soft pancakes with butter and sweet syrup on top
C.ham, scrambled eggs and pancakes
D.cereal with milk, bread and fruit
2.Maple syrup is popular in _____.
A.America B.Canada C.Britain D.Japan
3.The British-style breakfast includes _____.
A.scrambled eggs, mushrooms and baked beans
B.fried eggs, sausages with sweet syrup
C.bacon, sausages, mushrooms and noodles
D.fried eggs, sausages, tomatoes with coffee or tea
假定你是李华，你的美国网友Jack来信说下个月就要参加汉语水平考试了，他感到非常紧张。请你就此给他回一封电子邮件，内容包括：1. 给予安慰； 2.备考建议； 3. 你的祝愿。
注意：
1. 词数不少于100个词。
2. 可适当加入细节，使内容充实，行文连贯。
3. 开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：汉语水平考试 Chinese Proficiency Test
Dear Jack,
Glad to have received your letter!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加:在缺词处加一个漏字符号(∧)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除:把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉。
修改:在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意:1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。
Dear Sir or Madam,
News came which the teachers from Asheville School in America would pay a visit to our school for communication. Having read your requirements, I am willing to be one of the volunteer.
I am Li Hua, a Senior 3 student. I think I am qualified of the job. I have a good command of orally English, which can make me to communicate with foreigners freely. What’s more, I was always ready to help others and full of spirit of devotion. Aimed to do the work well, I’d like to receive any necessary training, and do whichever our school requires. Believe me, I’ll make full preparation and there is no doubt that I will be an outstanding volunteer.
I would appreciate you if you could take my request into consideration.
Yours,
Li Hua
It was Sunday and I was returning from my sister’s place. I left_______thinking that I might get a seat in the metro (地铁) and it would be a rather easy_______. But since my bad luck was_______me everywhere, I couldn’t get a seat. I_______and made my way straight to the end of the compartment. I_______there leaning on the side rails. I was feeling very_______about myself.
After few_______I got a seat. Just then, entered a_______lady supported by the metro staff and she sat next to me. I helped her out of the wheelchair and made her sit. I_______my MP4 player and pushed the earpieces just to keep all the________thoughts from my head. Just then I heard the lady calling me. She introduced herself to me and asked about me. I________my best possible smile and answered that much only and pushed ________my earpieces.
She went on________and I had to take out my earpieces and keep them back in my bag. She told me she was a student at Ramakrishna Mission Ashram and goes there________. It gives her peace and strength. The strength to keep going________her to enjoy the human life as much as possible. She then gave me one of Swami’s________and also recited some of verses. She kept on talking for the most of the time and I was very________listening to her.
We were so busy in talking that we didn’t even________our names and I didn’t notice it until we came to our train station and we went our ways.________she left, I opened the booklet she gave and read inspirational________. There and then, I understood that whatever may come, it should not hamper our hopes and our expectations.
1.A. carefully B. early C. slowly D. luckily
2.A. tour B. voyage C. travel D. journey
3.A. approaching B. attending C. following D. attacking
4.A. entered B. remained C. stayed D. insisted
5.A. left B. lay C. sat D. stood
6.A. low B. confident C. proud D. special
7.A. points B. passages C. stops D. seats
8.A. wealthy B. crippled C. learned D. stubborn
9.A. searched for B. pulled off C. picked up D. took out
10.A. positive B. objective C. negative D. valuable
11.A. forced B. changed C. created D. offered
12.A. up B. ahead C. down D. back
13.A. questioning B. talking C. arguing D. quarreling
14.A. constantly B. commonly C. instantly D. regularly
15.A. forbids B. warns C. helps D. reminds
16.A. gifts B. books C. records D. pictures
17.A. attentively B. angrily C. nervously D. anxiously
18.A. remember B. explain C. understand D. exchange
19.A. Since B. After C. Before D. When
20.A. letters B. notices C. messages D. purposes
