Volunteering Is Fun
One afternoon I was sitting at home feeling so bored. Instead of feeling sorry for myself, I wanted to meet people and have new experiences so I decided to start volunteering. I searched on my computer and found a website where I could volunteer on a farm in France.
My time working on a farm was a new experience for me. It was basically a free holiday as food and accommodation were provided. However, it was not my typical holiday as I had to look after fifteen horses and sleep at the top of a tower in a castle! I was an awful farmer but it did not matter because I made some great friends. However, you do not need to go abroad to volunteer. I have had plenty of adventures at home as volunteering can become a hobby. For example, I love singing so I had a good laugh waving my arms in an attempt to conduct my local choir. I did slowly improve and it felt great to conduct the choir in a concert. At university, I organized a concert for charity with my friends. It was really fun finding bands and raising money for a cause we believe in.
It is true that you feel good volunteering but there are also other advantages. I once volunteered as a server at a charity sports event where the organizers gave me cupcakes to thank me for my services. I also volunteered in a charity shop so I found loads of nice cheap clothes to update my wardrobe(衣柜).
While this is all fun, my favorite aspect of volunteering is creating and sharing stories. My terrible attempts at farming have given me hilarious stories to tell! Talking to volunteers from different countries and backgrounds has also helped me learn more about the world. I feel thankful to have had so much fun with many nice people thanks to volunteering.
1.Why did the author want to be volunteer?
A.He wanted to taste new life and make friends.
B.He felt ashamed of himself.
C.He wanted to be a farmer.
D.He wanted to go abroad.
2.The underlined word“hilarious”in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to“_____”.
A.sad B.critical C.awful D.funny
3.What volunteering work did the author do?
A.Taking care of sheep. B.Helping in an Italian farm.
C.Helping in a charity shop. D.Conducting a choir in a sports event.
4.How does the author feel according to the last paragraph?
A.Curious. B.Anxious. C.Grateful. D.Cautious
Plastic-Eating Worms
Humans produce more than 300 million tons of plastic every year. Almost half of that winds up in landfills(垃圾填埋场), and up to 12 million tons pollute the oceans. So far there is no effective way to get rid of it, but a new study suggests an answer may lie in the stomachs of some hungry worms.
Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the greater wax moth can break down polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of plastics. The team left 100 wax worms on a commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3% of it. To confirm that the worms’ chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste(糊状物) and applied it to plastic films. 14 hours later the films had lost 13% of their mass — apparently broken down by enzymes (酶) from the worms’ stomachs. Their findings were published in Current Biology in 2017.
Federica Bertocchini, co-author of the study, says the worms’ ability to break down their everyday food — beeswax — also allows them to break down plastic. ＂Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in polyethylene, the carbon-carbon bond, is there as well, ＂she explains, ＂The wax worm evolved a method or system to break this bond. ＂
Jennifer DeBruyn, a microbiologist at the University of Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can break down polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, DeBruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes(肠道微生物)?
Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team’s findings might one day help employ the enzyme to break down plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process — not simply ＂millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic.＂
1.What can we learn about the worms in the study?
A.They take plastics as their everyday food.
B.They are newly evolved creatures.
C.They can consume plastics.
D.They wind up in landfills.
2.According to Jennifer DeBruyn, the next step of the study is to .
A.identify other means of the breakdown
B.find out the source of the enzyme
C.confirm the research findings
D.increase the breakdown speed
3.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that the chemical might .
A.help to raise worms
B.help make plastic bags
C.be used to clean the oceans
D.be produced in factories in future
4.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A.To explain a study method on worms.
B.To introduce the diet of a special worm.
C.To present a way to break down plastics.
D.To propose new means to keep eco-balance.
FOUR BEST BOOKSHOPS IN LONDON
Looking for something to read while in London? If so, you’re in luck: the British capital happens to have an incredible collection of bookshops.
Daunt Books
Are you going on a trip and want to read a novel or nonfiction book set in the place you’re headed? This bookshop arranges books by country, so it’s easy to find anything by place. (83 Marylebone High Street. Monday-Saturday: 09:00-19:30; Sunday: 11:00-18:00.)
Foyles Books
Dig, if you will, the picture: four miles of shelves holding up to 200,000 books. This legendary (传奇的) bookshop is impossible to leave empty-handed. It was once listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest bookshop on the planet. (107 Charing Cross Road. Monday-Saturday: 9:00-21:00; Sunday: 11:30-18:00.) Hatchards
In the year 1797, this London bookshop—the oldest in the city today—first flicked on its lights. It stocks an excellent selection of fiction, nonfiction, history and other genres. (187 Piccadilly Street. Monday-Saturday: 09:30-20:00; Sunday: 12:00-18:30.)
London Review Bookshop
There’s an excellent selection of history, philosophy, politics, new fiction and many other genres here. Plus, there’s a nice cafe in which you can crack open that tome (巨著) for the first time and start reading. (14 Bury Place. Monday-Saturday 10:00-18:30; Sunday 12:00-18:00.)
1.Which bookstore was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records?
A.Daunt Books. B.Foyles Books.
C.Hatchards. D.London Review Bookshop.
2.What is special about Hatchards?
A.It has a long history. B.It has 200,000 books.
C.It has a cafe. D.It has both fiction and nonfiction books.
3.Which place should you go to if you want to enjoy reading with a coffee?
A.83 Marylebone High Street. B.107 Charing Cross Road.
C.187 Piccadilly Street. D.14 Bury Place.
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。
Missus Sommers one day found herself the unexpected owner of fifteen dollars. It seemed to her a very large amount of money. For a day or two she walked around in a dreamy state as she thought about her choices. Her daughter Janie was wearing worn shoes and needed new ones. She would buy cloth for new shirts for the boys. Her daughter Mag should have another dress. And still there would be enough left for new stockings for her children. The idea about how to spend the dollars made her restless with excitement.
On the day she planned to go shopping with the money, she ate a light meal- no! Between getting the children fed and the house cleaned, and preparing herself to go shopping, she forgot to eat at all!
When she arrived at the large department store, she spotted a pile of silk stockings at the entrance. A sign nearby announced that they had been reduced in price a young girl behind the counter asked her if she wished to examine the silky leg coverings. She smiled as if she had been asked to inspect diamond jewelry, and started to feel the soft, expensive items. Missus Sommers picked up a black pair and looked at them closely. Two red marks suddenly showed on her pale face. She looked up at the shop girl and said proudly, “Well, I will buy this pair.”
Missus Sommers changed her cotton stockings for the new silk ones in the ladies’ rest area. She had let herself be controlled by some machine-like force that directed her actions and freed her of responsibility. How good was the touch of the silk on her skin! Then she put her shoes back on and put her old stockings into her bag. Next, she went to the shoe department, where she tried on a pair of new boots. Her foot and ankle looked lovely. She could not believe that they were a part of herself.
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：
After buying a pair of new boots, she walked into the clothing department.
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Paragraph 2：
She was about to leave the store when a kid running around reminded her of something.
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假如你是李华，你的好友Tom想约你明晚和他家人共进晚餐，但你因故不能应约。请根据以下要点用英语给他写一封电子邮件：
1. 表示歉意；
2. 解释原因；
3. 弥补方法。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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The stage lights dimmed(变昏暗), and I took a quick look from behind the heavy black curtains into the audience. Blinded by the lights, I quickly _______.It seems that a great number of eyes were looking at me. I took a deep _______ as the music of my dance began to play. I entered the stage and began my _______, the graduation test of the classical Indian dance.
After a decade of learning,I was finally ready to take on the most difficult act.The test is the most important _______in a dancer's life as it pays respect to all the factors in one's life that _______the dance form:one's culture and family.
The performance is undertaken only by the most_______and determined students.It is a difficult process that requires much _______For more than six months,I spent two to three hours every day _______ these dances.Many times,1_______myself to my physical and mental breaking point,but still I would not stop.I could not give up.There was always so much more to do and so much more to________.
I discovered a lot about myself in those tiring hours,and I forced myself to meet my ________.Even when I was at the end of my limit,there was always something ________ me on,forcing me not to give up.
Fortunately,I made it.What I had done ________ the success.It was in those hours that I learned what a dancer ________ is.Those time was evidence that I could achieve something I________out to do.
1.A.pulled back B.set off C.reached out D.broke away
2.A.sleep B.thought C.breath D.sorrow
3.A.career B.comprehension C.response D.performance
4.A.routine B.incident C.accident D.event
5.A.develop B.purchase C.introduce D.promote
6.A.focused B.beautiful C.intelligent D.considerate
7.A.talent B.strength C.devotion D.cooperation
8.A.recording B.practicing C.discussing D.designing
9.A.applied B.addicted C.treated D.pushed
10.A.forget B.design C.learn D.research
11.A.budget B.expectation C.expense D.impression
12.A.driving B.competing C.benefiting D.representing
13.A.increased B.deserved C.expanded D.exposed
14.A.completely B.chiefly C.truly D.distantly
15.A.put B.carry C.turn D.set
