Why doesn’t the Leaning Tower of Pisa fall over during its over 800 years history? To understand their situation, it's helpful to understand why the tower tilted in the first place.
In the 12th century, the wealthy maritime republic of Pisa set about turning its cathedral square into a magnificent landmark. In 1173, construction began on a free-standing bell tower. The engineers and architects of the time were masters of their craft but knew far less about the ground they stood on. Less than five years later, the tower's southern side was already underground. If workers added more weight, the pressure from upper stories would sink the structure and fatally increase the lean. But construction stopped at the fourth story for nearly a century, which allowed the soil to settle.
When construction began again in 1272, workers compensated for the tower's minor tilt by making the next few floors taller on the southern side. But the weight of the extra masonry made that side sink even deeper. By the time they completed the seventh floor and bell chamber, the angle of the tilt was 1.6 degrees.
In 1838, engineers dug a walkway around the base to examine the sunken foundation. But removing the supporting sand only worsened the tilt. In 1935, the Italian Corps of Engineers injected mortar to strengthen the base. However, the mortar wasn't evenly distributed throughout the foundation, resulting in another sudden drop and moving the tower closer to its tipping point.
With exact data and new computing technology, in 1992, the construction team drilled diagonal tunnels to remove 38 cubic meters of soil from under the tower's north end. Then, they temporarily counterbalanced the structure, with 600 tons of lead ingots before anchoring the base with steel cables. More than six centuries after its construction, the tower was finally straightened to a tilt of about four degrees.
Today the tower stands at 55– or 56– meters tall, and it should remain stable for at least 300 years as a monument to the beauty of imperfection.
1.The passage is developed mainly in the form of ______.
A.time and events B.definition and description
C.contrast and conclusion D.examples and statements
2.What does the underlined phrase “compensated for” in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.arranged for B.made up for C.called for D.accounted for
3.What has finally led the tower to approach closer to its tipping point?
A.Engineers’ misjudgment of the soil under the tower
B.Making the next few floors taller on the southern side
C.Removing the supporting sand from the sunken foundation
D.The unevenly distributed mortar throughout the foundation
4.What can be a suitable title for the passage?
A.Who is to blame for the leaning?
B.Why doesn't the Leaning Tower of Pisa fall over?
C.How did the Leaning Tower of Pisa get its name?
D.Will the Leaning Tower of Pisa fall over？
If your fingers get chilly all year round—even in the peak of summer—you’re not alone. Many people get cold hands during all of the seasons, due to a number of causes, from genetic to chronic illnesses.
Common reasons include being elderly and thin. If your hands are regularly cold or numb, however, it’s a good idea to see a doctor to rule out more serious causes. Cold hands are one of the symptoms of both anemia (贫血症) and hypothyroidism (甲状腺机能减退). Diabetes, which reduces blood circulation, can also trigger it. And if your heart is weak from heart disease, your body may prioritize sending blood to your core over your limbs.
For many others, cold hands are a sign they have a largely harmless condition called Raynaud’s disease. When any of us goes out in the cold, our bodies activate the muscles in our smallest blood vessels to make them even smaller—a survival mechanism to keep blood, and thus warmer temperatures, in our core. For people with Raynaud’s, this reaction is too strong, and instead of just a bit less blood going to their fingers, far too little gets there.
Raynaud’s is more common in women, and it most often develops before the age of 30. In fact, if you develop Raynaud’s when you’re older—usually after 40—it can be a sign of another underlying issue. That could be a smaller problem—a previous incident of frostbite (冻伤) or a sign of a more serious autoimmune condition, like lupus (狼疮).
For the majority of people living with Raynaud’s, medication won’t be necessary. However, a rare, more severe form of Raynaud’s affects less than one in 1,000 people. In these cases, blood can become completely blocked, causing sores on the hands. If they go untreated, it can lead to gangrene (坏疽) and, very rarely, amputation (截肢).
1.What’s the purpose of paragraph 1?
A.introduce a topic B.present an argument
C.describe the characters D.clarify his writing purpose
2.According to the text, which of the following is not the cause of cold hands?
A.diabetes B.heart disease C.aging D.obesity
3.What do we know about Raynaud’s disease?
A.It appears when blood vessels in your body overreact to high temperatures.
B.Males never suffer from it before the age of 30.
C.In some cases, it can be a sign of some health issues.
D.For most people, it is a serious health problem.
4.What will the author talk about in the following paragraph?
A.The reasons why people have cold hands
B.Ways to treat Raynaud’s disease and prevent cold hands
C.Medical research on Raynaud’s Disease
D.Disadvantages of cold hands
As a Hollywood film star in the 1930s and 1940s, Hedy Lamarr at one point was called "the most beautiful woman in the world." What she was less known for was her scientific intellect.
Lamarr had a natural curiosity about the world around her. As young as age 5, she would spend time taking apart and rebuilding her music box to understand how it worked. But her technical mind was overshadowed by her looks-at 16, she got her first film role and quickly became an international icon.
As her acting career continued to take off during World War II, Lamarr became restless, feeling that she should do more to contribute to the Allies' war efforts. Together with her friend Antheil, Lamarr came up with a groundbreaking new form of wireless communication known as spread spectrum(光谱).The concept was to create a wireless signal that could hop from frequency to frequency, making it impossible to track or jam.They received a patent for their technology in 1942, but the military refused to implement(实施) it in their war effort.
The technology sat unused for years, until one day the military revived it in the 1960s and the system "spread like wildfire."It became the backbone of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, GPS and a range of wireless communication mechanisms we rely on today.By the time the technology was implemented, Lamarr's patent had been due, and she never received a single payment for her revolutionary invention.
Hedy Lamarr played the role she was expected to play in Hollywood — a beautiful object to admire on the big screen.If she yielded to society's expectations in other ways, communication as we know it could look completely different today.
1.What was special about Hedy Lamarr?
A.She was the most beautiful woman in the world at one time.
B.She was a naughty girl when she was young.
C.She was gracefully beautiful as well as scientifically intellectual.
D.She decide to quit her acting career after World War II broke out.
2.What was the main reason for Lamarr to invent spread spectrum?
A.She was no longer a popular actress.
B.She wanted to make some contribution to the Allies' war efforts.
C.She was out of condition and couldn’t continue her acting career.
D.Her friend Antheil asked her to do so.
3.When did Lamarr’s patent come into use ?
A.During World War II B.In 1942
C.In the 1960s D.In recent years
4.Why did the author write the text?
A.To remember a great inventor. B.To introduce an invention.
C.To encourage women to invent. D.To stress the importance of Lamarr’s invention.
We recently asked subscribers of the BuzzFeed Books newsletter to tell us about a book that changed their lives. There’s something here for everyone, so take your pick — and get ready to be inspired.
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
This is a book about the story of an unlikely friendship between Finch, who's fascinated with dying, and Violet, who's living for the future in the wake of her sister's death. Both have much to learn from each other. All the Bright Places really shows that, no matter what tragedy or hardship you may have faced, you eventually just have to get back out there and live your life. —Mikaila C.
Get it from Amazon for $7.99+, Barnes and Noble for $8.49, or a local bookseller through IndieBound.
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
As an American-Nigerian, this book spoke to me on so many levels — from the simple joy of a text interspersed with the language of my parents, to the struggle of understanding race in terms of the world beyond America. I highly recommend it.—Chikodili Agwuna
Get it from Amazon for $10.99+, Barnes and Noble for $13.07, or a local bookseller through IndieBound.
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
Growing up without family to turn to during adolescence, I felt every pain and loneliness that the prince experienced. But The Little Prince taught me to make friends and value them by looking into their hearts — not just into what they projected in public. —Erika, Chicago
Get it from Amazon for $6.51+, Barnes and Noble for $7.51, or a local bookseller through IndieBound.'
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
This is the story of two Afghan women who find their lives connected forever. It taught me about the struggles of womanhood, as well as the power and strength of sisterhood, and proves that not all love stories have to be romantic.—Susan M.
Get it from Amazon for $5.43+, Barnes and Noble for $10.94, or a local bookseller through IndieBound.
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1.Which of the following doesn’t tell about friendship?
A.All the Bright Places B.Americanah
C.The Little Prince D.A Thousand Splendid Suns
2.Whose book is the cheapest from Barnes and Noble?
A.Jennifer Niven B.Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
C.Antoine de Saint-Exupéry D.Khaled Hosseini
3.Where does the passage most probably come from?
A.a travel guide B.a newspaper
C.a magazine D.a website
假如你是李华，你校英文报“Life Tricks”栏目将刊登解决生活常见问题的小窍门的短 文。请给英国朋友Tom写信约稿，内容要点如下：
1.栏目介绍；2.稿件要求：介绍3条生活小妙招；3.交稿日期:8月25日前
注意：1.词数100左右；2.适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Tom,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
阅读短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要，
Recently, Children should eat their meals and snacks at home during the outbreak of the covid-19 （新冠病毒）,which means not only adding a new stress （压力）for parents （eg, a lot more cooking!）, but also providing a new chance for parents to teach children cooking skills.
Helping children develop an interest in cooking when they're young can help them have the valuable life skill that they can carry into adulthood. Allowing children to help in the kitchen encourages them to learn where food comes from, and teaches them about nutrition and food safety （e.g., the importance of washing fresh produce with clean water, or hand-washing before and after helping in the kitchen）. Doing so may also help children overcome picky eating by becoming more accepting of new foods. What's more, cooking and baking can be fun ways to spend time while bonding with family.
The key is finding tasks that suit children's age and ability, while still guiding and monitoring their progress. Activities that may attract a preschooler's interest in cooking include helping to wash fruits and vegetables and add toppings to a pizza. Older children can be given tasks such as measuring ingredients into cups or beating eggs. Proper cooking skills to introduce to the children aged between 8 and 10 include planning a family meal or following a simple recipe （食谱）.By ages 10 to 12} once able to follow kitchen safety rules, many children can prepare more recipes, including meatballs, cookies and cupcakes.
Getting children to take part in kitchen activities may require patience as they learn. That's why it's helpful to have some extra time at home.
