[1] In 1856, a British survey team measured the height of Qomolangma with the result of 8,840 meters above sea level. However, the exact measurement has never been settled. In 1955, the figure was adjusted by an Indian survey team to 8,848 meters, and later to 8,850 meters according to a US team in 1999. And in 2005, a Chinese team gained a height of 8,844 meters, but that result wasn't widely accepted either.
[2] On May 6, 2020, a 30-member Chinese survey team, equipped with the latest technology, including a Global Navigation Satellite System receiver and a radar to measure the mountain's snow cap, is determined to settle the dispute (争议).
[3] But measuring Qomolangma is no easy task. The average air temperature there is -29℃ and hurricane-like winds blow all the time. According to Li Guopeng, leader of the No.1 Geodetic Survey Team of China's Ministry of Natural Resources, despite advanced technologies we now have — the likes of robots and drones — it’s uncertain that they can operate smoothly under extreme conditions, which is why sending human experts to the peak is still necessary to ensure a precise reading.
[4] But ______
[5] The truth is that measuring the height of Qomolangma is much more than just getting that one particular number. Mount Qomolangma is the perfect window for observing crustal (地壳的) movements. Tiny changes to the peak's height can indicate whether the two plates, the Eurasian plate and the Indian plate, are heading toward or away from each other. The survey team will also get firsthand information about the condition of the snow and other natural materials at the top, which could be an indicator of climate change on the Tibet-Qinghai Plateau.
[6] It might be true that settling a dispute was the driving force for continued exploration, but the good thing is that we always end up discovering so much more.
1.What is Paragraph 1 mainly about?
A.The importance of Qomolangma. B.The dispute of Qomolangma’s height.
C.The difficulty in measuring Qomolangma. D.The change of Qomolangma’s height.
2.What does Li Guopeng think of the new devices they carried?
A.They can read and deal with the results precisely.
B.They might break down under unusual conditions.
C.They are the latest advanced technology in the world.
D.They will work properly without human’s instructions.
3.Which of the following is best for the blank in the text?
A.what is the process of China’s measurement?
B.how is the latest technology used for the research?
C.does a tiny difference really matter for a huge mountain?
D.do extreme conditions actually affect the measurement?
4.What is to be discovered through the exact height of Qomolangma?
A.The depth of snowcap. B.The diversity of natural materials.
C.The state of crustal movements. D.The change of worldwide climate.
5.What is the writer’s purpose in writing the text?
A.To recommend a good way to settle a dispute.
B.To show the history of measuring Qomolangma.
C.To advertise China’s latest advanced technology.
D.To stress the value of China’s latest exploration in Qomolangma.
[1] It happens countless times a day. A flower’s bright color and the smell of sweet nectar (花蜜) attract a bee. The bee stops by for a quick taste and small grains of pollen (the powder produced by a flower) stick to its body. The bee then travels to another flower of the same type and leaves the pollen as it has another meal. This is an example of animal pollination (授粉) — a process extremely important to plant reproduction.
[2] It’s not only plants that depend on animal pollination — humans do, too. Worldwide, nearly a thousand plants that we grow for food, spices, clothing fibers, and medicine depend on it. If pollination suddenly stopped, we would have no apples, tomatoes, coffee, and many other goods.
[3] This important process is carried out by more than 200,000 different animal species known as pollinators. Flies and beetles - the original pollinators - date back 130 million years to the first flowering plants. Birds, butterflies, and ants also do their part. Even nonflying mammals help out: monkeys tear open flowers with their hands, accidentally spreading pollen into the air and onto their fur.
[4] Pollinators are therefore important, but they are also at risk. Climate change, habitat loss, and invasive predators (入侵捕食者) all threaten them. The United States, for example, has lost over 50 percent of its honeybees over the past ten years. A serious threat facing bees is colony collapse disorder, when worker bees mysteriously disappear from their colony. Scientists are still trying to identify its cause.
[5] There is a quote attributed to Einstein that if bees ever disappeared, man would only have four years left to live. Whether that’s true or not does not really matter, says wildlife photographer Louie Schwartzberg: the key point is that there is a real danger. “The healthiest food we need to eat,” he says, “would disappear without pollinating plants. It’s pretty serious.”
1.What might be left on flower B, as is shown in the picture?
A.Nectar.
B.Pollen.
C.Leaves.
D.Fur.
2.What can be inferred from the text?
A.Pollination means a lot to fruits and grains.
B.Nearly a thousand plants depend on pollination.
C.Monkeys are the only nonflying mammal pollinators.
D.There are more than 20,000 different species of pollinators.
3.What threat are honeybees faced with?
A.Climate change. B.Habitat loss.
C.Invasive predators. D.Colony collapse disorder.
4.What does the underlined “a real danger” in the last paragraph refer to?
A.Bees are disappearing. B.Humans can only survive 4 years.
C.Food shortage is serious. D.No pollinating plants, no healthy food.
5.Which might be the best title?
A.The Importance of Pollinators B.The Creator of Nature
C.The Wonder of Reproduction D.The Secret Life of Bees
阅读下面材料, 根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。续写的词数应为150左右。
It was almost dark and some streets were already lighted. Everyone seemed to go home in a hurry. Passing a well-dressed man, little ragged Rafiq called again, holding a paper high up with one hand," Daily Star, Sir, only eight cents..."But the man went on without a word. Rafiq had been up and down the street the whole day crying but there were still twenty papers under his arms.
The shops would soon close and he would have to go home too, carrying papers instead of money. He had longed to have more money tonight to buy a cake for his mother and some bird-seed for his favourite pet Bulbul which was a gift from his father before he died. He had spent all the money both he and his mother possessed to buy papers. It was heartbreaking and more than he could bear to think about that.
"An unlucky day!" sighed Rafiq and his eyes fell on the last page of Daily Star.
An honest boy wanted ---Truefulness and honesty is what he owns.
(Public, 425 Lafayette St.212-967-7555, Mr.Iskandar)
"Honesty?" Rafiq breathed deeply.
"Hello, Rafiq. Haven’t you sold your papers yet? I sold mine 2 hours ago." Rafiq looked up and saw Sardul, another news boy.
"Why? That’s more than 160 copies."
"Rafiq," said Sardul as he drew near to him so that no one would hear what he was going to say. "You must run quickly up the street and shout ‘Hot news！Bomb bursting at local school. Many died’."
"But it’s not in the paper!"
"Nobody will catch you. Just run away quickly before they have time to see, and you’ll sell out and get your money."
Paragraph 1：
Rafiq dipped his hand into his pocket, feeling the few notes and coins there, lost in thought.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
The next day at the newspaper office, Rafiq heard Sardul laughing at his failure, and then spotted a gentleman listening patiently outdoors.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假如你是李华，你的新西兰笔友Pal想学做一道中国传统美食，参加学校即将举办的美食节（Food Fair）。请你就此回复邮件，内容包括名称及做法等。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 不得透露学校、姓名等任何个人信息。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Looking at these professional wildlife images, it’s easy to assume the person behind the camera is an adult with decades of ______. But these photos were taken by 14-year-old Josiah Launstein.
From time to time, I hear about kids who ______ me. Young Josiah Launstein is one of them. He is only 14 and he’s been into ______ for 9 years. He grew to become a passionate wildlife photographer, and he even started getting awards for his ______ and skill.
He’s received numerous awards and his work has been shown in museums and galleries worldwide. CBC Arts(加拿大广播公司艺术频道)______ Josiah in a YouTube video, where he got to say a bit about himself and his interest in photography. Josiah started using his dad’s ______ when he was only five years old. As he ______, he took it more seriously when he was seven. Josiah says that he ______ being in the wilderness and spending time with animals, so it seems he put his two passions together. It’s _______, really!
Josiah explains that wildlife photography requires a lot of ______ and determination. He
____ rain, sleet, snow and freezing temperatures. To frame the perfect ______, there’s a lot of waiting and ______ days. He especially likes photographing bighorn sheep, and one of his photos of these wonderful animals ______ him Young Outdoor Photographer of the Year award. He has been granted this ______ three times so far. His last awarded photo, Raindrops, is currently on exhibit in Natural History Museum in London.
1.A.experience B.progress C.passion D.curiosity
2.A.amuse B.respect C.trust D.amaze
3.A.business B.fashion C.entertainment D.photography
4.A.talent B.knowledge C.success D.imagination
5.A.evaluated B.presented C.helped D.consulted
6.A.picture B.book C.camera D.method
7.A.complains B.explains C.proves D.understands
8.A.risks B.avoids C.enjoys D.practices
9.A.absurd B.complicated C.easy D.wonderful
10.A.training B.observation C.patience D.research
11.A.records B.dislikes C.expects D.bears
12.A.animal B.weather C.shot D.nature
13.A.long B.terrible C.cold D.free
14.A.left B.earned C.showed D.prepared
15.A.title B.scholarship C.photo D.permission
Think “art”. What comes to your mind? Is it sculptures in the Louvre, or Chinese painting in the Palace Museum? Or maybe, just maybe, it’s a dancing pattern of lights?
The artworks by American artist Janet Echelman look like colorful floating clouds when lit up at night. Visitors can not only enjoy looking at them, they can also interact with them — literally.
1. Exhibits such as these are certainly new and exciting, but are they really art?
Whatever your opinion, people have been expressing their thoughts through art with various tools and technologies for thousands of years. Yet Michelangelo and others have been labelled as “artists” rather than “technicians”. 2.
Today, however, technological advances have led to a combination of art and technology. As a result, the art world is changing greatly. 3. Take for example one of China’s most famous paintings, Along the River During the Qingming Festival. As this artwork is rarely on display, people have sometimes queued a long time for a chance to see it. Thanks to technology however, millions more people have been able to experience a digital version of it with 3D animation.
4. Not only can we interact with art, but also take part in its creation. With new technological tools at our fingertips, more and more people have created exciting new art forms, such as digital paintings and videos.
However, such developments are making the line between art and technology less distinct. Is the artist the creator of the art itself, or the maker of the technology behind it?
5. But one thing is for sure — with so many artists exploring new possibilities, we can definitely expect the unexpected.
A.Now art is more accessible to us than ever before.
B.Where technology will take art next is anyone’s guess.
C.It’s not important whether they are artists or technicians.
D.They do this by using their phones to change their colors and patterns.
E.They watch as the different scenes change from daylight into nighttime.
F.The art-tech combination is also changing our concepts of “art” and the “artist”.
G.This means that art and technology have always been seen as two very separate things.
