The Kendama World Cup
Old-fashioned fun is making a comeback!
Many kids are putting down their electronic devices and picking up an ancient toy. It is called a kendama, and it possibly dates back to the 16th century.
The kendama is a small wooden hammer with three cup-shaped ends and a spike on top. A wooden ball with a center hole is attached by string to the hammer. The goal is to make the ball land in a cup or on the spike. It sounds simple, but there are over 1,000 kendama techniques and tricks to master.
The game’s popularity began to grow after the Japan Kendama Association was started in 1975. Today all ages participate in various competitions, including the Kendama World Cup(KWC).
The two-year-old event, which opens in Hatsukaichi, attracts people from all over the world. Players choose 10 different tricks from an approved list. They are then awarded points corresponding to the level of each trick.
A new Kendama World Cup winner will be named tomorrow in this popular sporting event.
1.What does “old-fashioned fun” in Paragraph 1 refer to?
A.An old cup. B.An ancient game.
C.A clever trick. D.An electronic device.
2.What does a Kendama look like?
A.
B.
C.
D.
3.What does the last but one paragraph imply?
A.Every KWC lasts two years. B.The KWC is held every two years.
C.Players can choose tricks freely. D.Different tricks get different points.
4.What do we know from the last paragraph?
A.A new KWC is being on. B.The winner of this KWC is very popular.
C.The Kendama is newly-born. D.KWC will be named after the new winner.
Jack Horner is co-author of the book How to Build a Dinosaur. However, he is most famous for his role as consultant(顾问) on all four Jurassic Park films, including the new film Jurassic World.
The original film Jurassic Park tells the story of a theme park where dinosaurs live. In that movie, scientists used DNA collected by ancient mosquitoes that had been trapped in amber shortly after they drank dinosaur blood. The scientists used this dinosaur DNA to create baby dinosaurs. The scientists in Jurassic Park created various types of dinosaurs, but in the real world there is one big problem with the story. It turns out that DNA could not possibly survive the 65 million years since the death of the dinosaurs.
The new movie creates the Indominus Rex. This idea of creating a hybrid species is something Horner has explored before. In 2011, he gave a speech in which he discussed producing a dinosaur by working with the genes of a bird. Modern birds are the closest living relative of dinosaurs.
The concept of using the genes of different animals to create new animals is called transgenic science. And this type of science has already produced some interesting results — goats that produce spider silk in their milk, cows that produce proteins for medicines that can treat diseases, and a pig that produces less-polluting waste thanks to a bit of mouse DNA. However, none of these examples are close to the dinosaurs in Jurassic World. And for a good reason — genetics is a very complex science. Producing a new species is not as simple as just exchanging a few genes around.
In the end, Jurassic World is all about fun.
1.What do we know from Paragraph 2?
A.A theme park is built to protect dinosaurs.
B.Mosquito DNA is used to create dinosaurs.
C.DNA can be well kept for millions of years.
D.Creation of dinosaurs in the film isn’t scientific.
2.What might “the Indominus Rex” be?
A.A modern bird. B.A goat producing silk.
C.A hybrid dinosaur. D.A cow producing protein.
3.What can we conclude from the last two paragraphs?
A.Jurassic World proves a big success. B.Many extinct species will be brought back.
C.Hybridizing dinosaurs is no easy job. D.Transgenic science proves a complete failure.
4.What do we know about Jack Horner?
A.He has starred in Jurassic World.
B.He has explored a lot about dinosaurs.
C.He has directed four Jurassic Park films.
D.He has written How to Build a Dinosaur alone.
Narayana Peesapaty was sitting on a flight when he noticed a passenger trying to reach food with a biscuit after breaking his spoon. At that moment, the researcher’s mind gave birth to a simple yet revolutionary concept — edible spoons.
How do you like your spoon?
Peesapaty’s company, Bakeys, makes edible spoons mainly out of sorghum(高粱）though rice, wheat and water are also ingredients. They combine to form a dry eating tool that remains hard even when used in moist or hot foods. Bakeys also makes ginger and garlic flavored(风味) spoons to meet specific requests. All spoons are completely natural and acceptable for nearly all diets.
A rice replacement
An environmentally-minded water researcher, Peesapaty, designed his spoons to be eco-friendly in several ways. Sorghum was chosen as the main ingredient of the spoons instead of rice, which requires 60 times as much water. Sorghum was also chosen for the strength it would lend eating tool, and the grain requires little water, low energy and no chemicals to grow.
In place of plastic
The goal that Peesapaty hopes to attain through Bakeys is to prevent plastic from any contact with food. Plastic products can contain cancer-causing substances that come into food, and average plastic bottles take 450 years to break down. In contrast, a Bakeys’ spoon is nutritious and break down in 10 days or less if thrown away. Peesapaty admits that using plastic is cheaper, but he also says that his spoons will be equally inexpensive when mass-produced.
1.Why is “the edible spoon” called a revolutionary concept?
A.It is natural and eatable. B.It remains hard in hot foods.
C.It offers various flavors. D.It meets all customers’ requests.
2.What’s Peesapaty’s main concern when choosing sorghum as main ingredient?
A.Being delicious. B.Being strong.
C.Being nutritious. D.Being eco-friendly.
3.What’s the main advantage of edible spoons over plastic ones?
A.Cheaper. B.Breaking down easily.
C.Tougher. D.Contacting food directly.
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。
It was time to go home.“Remember to work on your class speeches for homework, ”Miss Walker called, as everyone started talking and packing their school bags. Jenny felt sick. She hated having to read aloud in class. She was sure everyone got really bored listening to her. Once, when Jenny was reading out her holiday diary, Lee was even looking at his watch, a silver and blue one which seemed just magical.
Jenny watched Lee walk ahead of her as they left school. He seemed so clever, and he had a certain sort of shining confidence. He was just one of those people who were good at everything. Jenny sighed. As she turned the corner, she saw Lee’s watch lying right in the middle of the path.
Jenny knew she should just pick it up and return it to him, but she didn’t want to run after him. Jenny bent down quickly, picked up the watch and ran home. On arriving home, Jenny put it on almost without thinking. She was surprised it fitted so well. She walked to the mirror and started practicing her speech. Words just flooded out of her.“I’m going to talk about swimming. I have been lucky. I’ve won lots of competitions. But when I’m in a race, I’m not really thinking about winning. I’m just loving the feeling of being in the water...”Jenny laughed with excitement. She walked across the room. She suddenly seemed to have a certain sort of confidence. Turning back to the mirror, Jenny saw a flash of light from the watch in the glass. The flashes of silver seemed almost magical. So maybe Lee’s watch really DID have something magic.
The next day, as the lesson began, Miss Walker asked who was going to be brave and go first. No-body moved. Jenny slowly raised her arm. Before Miss Walker could say anything, there was a shout from behind. “She’s stolen my watch!” Lee said angrily,“ It went missing at school yesterday.”
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1: Everybody was fixing their eyes on Jenny, waiting for an explanation.
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Paragraph 2: At that moment, Miss Walker smiled and asked the class to listen to Jenny’s speech first.
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假如你是李华Li Hua，你的英国朋友Peter给你发来微信，想了解一下你的家乡自“十九大(the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China)”以来所发生的变化，请你用英文给他回复。
内容如下：1.精准扶贫(targeted poverty reduction)，效果良好；
2.环境保护得到了明显改善。
注意：1.词数100 左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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When I was a boy, every holiday that I had seemed wonderful. My parents took me by train or by car to a hotel by the _______ . All day, I seem to remember, I played on the sands with strange_______children. We made houses and gardens, and watched the tide destroy them. When the tide went out, we _______over the rocks and looked down at the fish in the rock-pools.
In those days the _______ seemed to shine always brightly and the water was always warm. Sometimes we left beach and walked in the country, exploring ruined houses and dark woods and climbing trees. There were _______ in one’s pockets or good places where one could _______ ice creams. Each day seemed a life-time.
Although I am now thirty-five years old, my idea of a good _______ is much the same as it was. I_______ like the sun and warm sand and the sound of _______ beating the rocks. I no longer wish to ________ any sand house or sand garden, and I dislike sweets. ________ , I love the sea and often feel sand running through my fingers.
Sometimes I ________what my ideal holiday will be like when I am ________. All I want to do then, perhaps, will be to lie in bed, reading books about ________ who make houses and gardens with sands, who watch the incoming tide, who make themselves ________ on too many ices creams.
1.A.sea B.lake C.mountain D.river
2.A.moving B.exciting C.anxious D.nervous
3.A.collected B.jumped C.turned D.crawled
4.A.light B.sun C.moon D.lamp
5.A.sweets B.sand C.ice-creams D.money
6.A.make B.sell C.purchase D.offer
7.A.house B.holiday C.garden D.tide
8.A.hardly B.almost C.still D.perhaps
9.A.waves B.tides C.hands D.feet
10.A.destroy B.fix C.use D.construct
11.A.But B.However C.Otherwise D.Furthermore
12.A.wonder B.feel C.understand D.believe
13.A.strong B.weak C.young D.old
14.A.children B.boys C.girls D.grown-ups
15.A.happy B.tired C.sad D.sick
