Benefits of Cross-Country Skiing

Cross-country skiing can be enjoyed by a wide range of students, from the youngest kindergartners to those secondary students. It is really a fun activity, providing students a gentle workout outside in winter. While having fun, students can gain physical and mental benefits.

The physical benefits of cross-country skiing are well known. If we look at Olympic cross- country skiers, we can see the positive effects on the body that result from training for cross-country skiing. The average best female cross-country skier carries 11 percent body fat, and best male skiers carry 5 percent. These percentages are well below the average for people who are considered to be athletic — 17 percent for females and 10 percent for males. The high number of calories burned while skiing helps to keep skiers slim in a healthy and attractive way.

Cross-country skiing is also an efficient way to exercise a large number of muscles at once. Because skiers use ski poles as a means of propulsion, the force that drives skiers forward, the upper body gets much more of workout. Of course, the leg muscles also do their fair share. People who use cross-country skiing as a workout over several weeks will discover that the muscles of their entire body increase in strength.

Cross-country skiing on a regular basis has a tremendous effect on a person’s cardiovascular system.

In addition to gaining strength in the muscles of the upper and lower body, people who use cross-country skiing as a workout method over several weeks will also discover that their heart is stronger. A strong heart pumps more efficiently, sending out more blood to the muscles with each contraction(收缩). Through weeks of skiing, people often discover that their resting heart rate has decreased. Highly trained Olympic cross-country skiers have resting heart rates between 28 and 40 beats per minute. Compare that to the resting heart rate of the average person, which is 60 to 80 beats per minute!

The benefits of cross-country skiing extend beyond overall general health. A lot of evidence exists indicating that regular physical activity increases the release of mood-lifting endorphins (内啡肽) in the body. After one of the energetic and fun skiing lessons, students will be smiling and laughing; they will be relaxed and in a better mood than when they started class. Students will leave class with a sense of accomplishment, knowing that they have developed new skills in a fun activity.

Cross-country skiing is a great way to work the total body. Now more and more students are taking part in this exercise outside during the winter months. They are enjoying it and benefiting from it!

1.The underlined word “workout” means ______.

A.manner B.opportunity

C.application D.exercise

2.According to the passage, we can learn that cross-country skiing ______.

A.can balance out the skiers’ increased calories

B.requires the use of most muscle groups

C.can increase the athletes’ resting heart rates

D.offers students a unique way to keep fit

3.How does the author prove the benefits of skiing in the fifth paragraph?

A.By giving explanations. B.By giving data.

C.By making comparisons. D.By giving comments.

4.Which of the following shows the development of ideas in the passage?

CP: Central point P: Point Sp: Sub-point (次要点) C: Conclusion

A. B.

C. D.

    The unquestioned role of a student is to learn as much as possible through whatever means it takes to acquire knowledge. Teachers and professors are human beings and are therefore not perfect. No one knows the correct answer to every question even when you limit the questions to a certain field of study. Having certain skepticism (质疑) about what they are being taught can help students to make the teachers even better by correcting mistakes and misinformation.

Students certainly have a huge role in their own abilities to learn. Teachers should act more as guides along the way rather than try to force each student to learn. The best teachers in the world cannot teach an unmotivated student. If the teacher, for whatever reason, cannot motivate the student, then the student must somehow find a way to motivate himself or herself.

One method of doing this is by becoming an active rather than a passive student. The more the student involves himself or herself in the act of studying, the better he or she can learn. One of the best ways to become more active is simply to ask the teacher or professor questions. Students who passively sit in a classroom and take everything that the teacher says for granted are not fully using their mental capacities to learn.

Better education comes from teachers who are able to get their students to think about a subject rather than merely absorb a certain amount of information. Having a healthy skepticism can improve a student's ability to both think and absorb knowledge in a learning situation.

Teachers are human beings and no one is one hundred percent right all of the time, even in a classroom situation. Perhaps a teacher would simply unconsciously say the wrong word or pass on some misinformation that the teacher truly believed was correct. A student's question could prevent an entire classroom from becoming confused or misinformed.

There is of course a fine balance between a student having a healthy skepticism and just being a downright skeptic. But with the proper attitude toward learning and a little skepticism, both the students and teachers can improve upon the learning process and maximize learning efficiency.

1.Which of the following is the author's main argument?

A.Passive learning results from passive teaching in class.

B.A student's ability plays a huge role in the learning process.

C.A healthy skepticism fully depends on students' motivation and ability.

D.A healthy skepticism and proper attitude contribute to effective learning.

2.Being passive learners, the students ________.

A.use little of their mental ability while studying

B.seldom involve themselves completely in learning

C.can hardly tell the right from the wrong in class

D.simply ask their teachers questions without thinking

3.According to the passage, a good teacher should ________.

A.help the unmotivated students patiently

B.instruct students in the learning process

C.make no mistakes in the teaching process

D.answer all the questions raised by students

4.The author will most probably agree that ________.

A.keeping skepticism to a certain degree is important

B.having a good attitude can ensure the learning process

C.taking everything for granted makes a student learn nothing

D.a teacher's ability can be improved by encouraging doubts

    Below is a housing guide for students going to London.

University accommodation (住所) offices

Many university accommodation offices have their own list of registered landlords. Others also provide information on accommodation agencies and other housing organization. The advantage of using your university accommodation is that you can get support if you have a problem. The disadvantage is that they are unlikely to have enough registered landlords to house all their students.

Property papers: Loot and Renting

Loot is an important source of information about private housing for co-renters. The offers are from private landlords, agencies and individuals looking for other co-renters. They also have a website: www.loot.com. The advantage of using Loot is that there are some excellent bargains. The disadvantage is that there is no quality control over the offers.

Renting is another useful paper. The offers in this paper are mainly from accommodation agencies. Their website is at www.renting.co.uk.

Accommodation agencies

The majority of rented accommodation in London is probably advertised through accommodation agencies. The advantage of using accommodation agencies is that you will have a large number of accommodations to choose from. A good agent will listen to your requirements and can save you time in looking for the right accommodation. The disadvantage is that they will make a range of charges to potential renters. Noticeboards

Around the universities you will find a number of noticeboards where offers of accommodation will be posted. These will either be from landlords or from students. Some universities will also have online noticeboards where students can advertise to other students. Advertisements from students can be an excellent way to find accommodation. However, advertisements from landlords can be problematic.

Word of mouth

Some of the best housing in London is never advertised but is passed on from one group of students to another by word of mouth. It might be that you can find out about good offers from final year students. However, don’t suppose that just because you have found out about housing from a friend, it is necessarily going to be better than that found through any other source.

Family

Faced with the very high rents charged in London, some students and their parents will consider buying as an alternative. In some cases this might be a good choice.

1.What is the advantage of using Loot?

A.It has more offers from accommodation agencies than Renting.

B.It gives you personal information about other co-renters.

C.Their website is designed mainly for students.

D.There are some good bargains.

2.A good agent can help you ______.

A.know more people

B.find cheap accommodation

C.get the right accommodation quickly

D.get free information about most accommodations

3.The information passed on by word of mouth is important because ______.

A.it is better than that found through any other source

B.it helps you find some of the best housing never advertised

C.the final year students always offer better information

D.the landlords have little valuable information

    I passed all the other courses that I took at my university, but I could have never passed botany. This was because all botany students had to spend several hours a week in a laboratory looking through a microscope at plant cells, and I could never once see a cell through a microscope. This used to make my professor angry. He would wander around the laboratory pleased with the progress all the students were making in drawing the structure of flower cells, until he came to me. I would just be standing there. “I can’t see anything,”I would say. He would begin patiently enough, explaining how anybody can see through a microscope, but he would always end up angrily, claiming that I could too see through a microscope but just pretended that I couldn’t. “It takes away from the beauty of flowers anyway.”I used to tell him.“We are not concerned with beauty in this course,”he would say.“We are concerned with the structure of flowers.” “Well,” I’d say.“I can’t see anything.” “Try it just once again,” he’d say, and I would put my eye to the microscope and see nothing at all, except now and again something unclear and milky. “You were supposed to see a clear, moving plant cells shaped like clocks.” “I see what looks like a lot of milk.” I would tell him. This, he claimed, was the result of my not having adjusted the microscope properly, so he would readjust it for me, or rather, for himself. And I would look again and see milk.

I failed to pass botany that year, and had to wait a year and try again, or I couldn’t graduate. The next term the same professor was eager to explain cell-structure again to his classes. “Well,”he said to me, happily, “we’re going to see cells this time, aren’t we?” “Yes,sir,” I said. Students to the right of me and to the left of me and in front of me were seeing cells; what’s more, they were . Of course, I didn’t see anything.

So the professor and I tried with every adjustment of the microscope known to man. With only once did I see anything but blackness or the familiar milk, and that time I saw, to my pleasure and amazement, something like stars. These I hurriedly drew. The professor, noting my activity, came to me, a smile on his lips and his eyebrows high in hope. He looked at my cell drawing. “What’s that?”he asked.“That’s what I saw,”I said.“You didn’t, you didn’t, you didn’t!”he screamed, losing control of himself immediately, and he bent over and looked into the microscope. He raised his head suddenly. “That’s your eye!” he shouted. “You’ve adjusted the microscope so that it reflects! You’re drawn your eye!”

1.Why couldn’t the writer see the flower cells through the microscope?     .

A.Because he had poor eyesight

B.Because the microscope didn’t work properly

C.Because he was not able to adjust the microscope properly

D.Because he was just playing jokes on his professor by pretending not to have seen it

2.What does the writer mean by “his eyebrows high in hope”in the last paragraph?

A.His professor expected him to have seen the cells and drawn the picture of them

B.His professor hoped he could perform his task with attention

C.His professor wished him to learn how to draw pictures

D.His professor looked forward to seeing all his students finish their drawings

3.What is the thing like stars that the writer saw in the last paragraph?

A.Real stars B.His own eye

C.Something unknown D.Milk

4.In what writing style did the writer write the passage?

A.Realistic B.Romantic C.Serious D.Humorous

    My husband kissed me goodbye, stroke (轻抚) the baby’s cheek and then rushed out of the door, into his busy day. With the cold of the morning fading, I fed my baby and it fell fast asleep. Usually I would place it in bed and quickly have the house somewhat in _______.

However, this morning, I stayed seated, just _______, with the baby in my arms. The thoughts ran into _______of the mornings with my husband, a father rushing out of the door to meet the obligations of life. It was only a small jump to thoughts of my own _______.

My mother passed away when I was ten, and as I looked _______, I could see how much of a family man my dad was. He went to work every morning and _______ to his family every evening. He _______ food, clothing, warmth, and protection. He was a faithful father.

Setting the baby down, I dialed the _______ number. I had just realized the _______ of the ordinary － the daily life going on around us that we often took for granted, and that it needed to be ________.

“Hi, Dad.” I said, ________ back tears.

“Hey, Bud. How are you?” ________ was in his voice.

“Fine, I’m just calling to say…thank you.” I got it out before my throat ________ too much for me to speak.

“What for?”

“For getting up and going to work every morning of my life. Now that I have my own ________ and I see my husband doing the same, I just wanted to thank you for being ________.”

There was ________ for a moment as my dad composed himself, and with a small ________ in his voice he said, “You’re welcome, Bud.”

I don’t remember much of the rest of the call, ________ that moment of revelation (显露) about my father, I will never forget. There are those who are known for their heroic ________, and also those who are known for their fortunes and fame, but it is the ________ everyday fathers who are the true heroes. I’m thankful that my father was one of them.

1.A.use B.line C.order D.fashion

2.A.thinking B.dreaming C.imagining D.praying

3.A.conversations B.struggles C.incidents D.memories

4.A.baby B.husband C.mother D.father

5.A.out B.away C.back D.around

6.A.moved B.returned C.escaped D.walked

7.A.provided B.collected C.sought D.bought

8.A.popular B.relative C.regular D.familiar

9.A.difference B.significance C.balance D.absence

10.A.recognized B.arranged C.reduced D.achieved

11.A.sending B.pushing C.holding D.putting

12.A.Sympathy B.Stress C.Doubt D.Concern

13.A.cleared B.hurt C.ached D.tightened

14.A.child B.duty C.life D.career

15.A.inspiring B.faithful C.considerate D.admirable

16.A.peace B.calm C.silence D.rest

17.A.tremble B.hesitation C.passion D.sigh

18.A.and B.but C.or D.nor

19.A.ideas B.deeds C.remarks D.words

20.A.outstanding B.patient C.ordinary D.honest

It was the culture, rather than the language, ________ made it hard for him to adapt to the new environment abroad.

A.where B.why

C.that D.what

If you had brought your swimming suit with you, we ___________ swimming in the lake now.

A.could go B.could have gone

C.can go D.have gone

When Alice woke up, she didn’t know how long she ______ there.

A.was lying B.lay C.has been lying D.had been lying

--Is Jack still in hospital?

--Yes. He _________ the bad food.

A.wouldn’t eat B.shouldn’t eat

C.wouldn’t have eaten D.shouldn’t have eaten

________ nearly all our money, we couldn't afford to stay at a hotel.

A.Having spent B.To spend

C.Spent D.To have spent

Why not stay at home ______ the road is so slippery after the heavy snow?

A.in case B.as long as

C.now that D.even if

The manager got to the company in a hurry, only to find that he ______ his laptop back at home.

A.would leave B.was leaving C.has left D.had left

－Where are the children? The school bus is leaving.

－ I wish they ______ always late.

A.aren’t B.weren’t C.wouldn’t be D.hadn’t been

－Would you like to go cycling with me?

－I’d love to, but I need to have my bike ______ first.

A.fixed B.to fix C.being fixed D.fixing

In the movie, Mr. Bean always gets into awkward and absurd situations, ______ greatly amuses audiences around the world.

A.where B.what C.that D.which

假定你叫李华。你校要放一部有关七夕节（Qixi Festival）的电影。请给你校喜欢中国文化的交换生Mary写封邮件，内容包括：

1. 放映时间地点；

2. 电影内容：七夕节的传说（legend）；

3. 准备工作：了解有关七夕节的背景。

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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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。

This summer holiday, I go to a seaside city with my family. We got there by air. It is a very beautiful and modern city, where impressed us a lot. On the first day, we took a bus to a place calling the Sea Park. There were such many different kinds of fishes that I couldn’t believe in my eyes. On the second day, we went swimming, and we all enjoyed ourselves. During the next two days, we went to some tourist spot, shopping and taking photos. Several days late, we left the city. Although we were tiring on our way home, we felt happily about the holiday. What unforgettable experience!

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Fireworks may seem like a very American tradition, 1. (especial) on the 4th of July. But fireworks go back many years before the first American Independence Day celebration, which took place in 1777, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The 2. (early) Fireworks can date back to around 2,000 years ago in China. People then 3. (say) to have roasted bamboo stalks (茎). The stalks turned black and made sounds. The air inside the hollow (空的) stalks would explode. Baozhu is a Mandarin Chinese word 4. firecracker. It means “exploding bamboo.”

Years later Chinese chemists took fireworks a step further. This 5. (happen) sometime between 600 and 900 A D  . People filled bamboo with gunpowder. They threw it into a fire. Steel dust or iron shavings were added 6. (make) them sparkle (冒火花). In China, these firecrackers were often used in 7. (tradition) celebrations.

In the 13th century, fireworks spread to Europe. In the centuries that followed, 8. (European) started moving to North America. So it was no surprise that when July 4th began to be celebrated as America’s Independence Day，fireworks 9. were invented by Chinese people witnessed 10. great moment as part of the plan.

Today, fireworks are an established July 4th tradition. Will you see a fireworks display this Independence Day?

    In 1999, Eve and Norman Fertig, a couple, saved a two-week-old shepherd (牧羊犬) named Shana.

One winter several years later, as the Fertigs, both then 81, ________ the injured and hungry animals housed in one of their buildings, a ________ snowstorm blew in. When the couple went outside to check the weather, several trees fell,________ them in a narrow path between two ________. Eve and Norman couldn’t climb over or duck below the ________. For the next two and a half hours, they crowded together for ________ as the snow piled higher. “We were ________,” Eve said. “I thought we could die out here.”

Around 9:30 pm, Shana , who was outside, began ________ toward Eve and Norman in the deep snow. It took her nearly two hours, but ________ she cleared a narrow tunnel(隧道)about 20 feet long ________ the front door of the main house with the Fertigs’ ________.

When breaking through the snow and ________ the couple, the 160-pound dog barked and caught Eve’s jacket and________ the 86-pound woman onto her back. Norman ________ Eve’s ankles, and for the next two hours, Shana pulled the couple through the tunnel.

Thanks to Shana’s ________, they finally reached the house around 2 am., and the Fertigs ________ to get just inside the front door. Extremely ________, they lay there, still. The storm had ________ the electricity and heat, ________ Shana slept next to them all night to keep them warm until the firemen found them.

After five months, Shana’s feet recovered from the injuries she ________ while digging.

1.A.fed B.found C.rescued D.trained

2.A.strange B.unique C.violent D.normal

3.A.covering B.pushing C.delivering D.trapping

4.A.rooms B.buildings C.tunnels D.animals

5.A.trunks B.fences C.leaves D.roofs

6.A.faith B.warmth C.freedom D.sympathy

7.A.in vain B.in sight C.in trouble D.in place

8.A.barking B.checking C.digging D.scanning

9.A.carefully B.eventually C.casually D.hopelessly

10.A.comparing B.providing C.equipping D.connecting

11.A.position B.bedroom C.tree D.tent

12.A.observing B.reaching C.returning D.passing

13.A.threw B.controlled C.fastened D.guided

14.A.lifted B.turned C.pressed D.seized

15.A.efforts B.growth C.habits D.eagerness

16.A.managed B.planned C.waited D.afforded

17.A.stressful B.unprepared C.tired D.desperate

18.A.focused on B.knocked out C.got over D.kept off

19.A.for B.since C.or D.but

20.A.discovered B.predicted C.received D.remembered

    Bad communication, either written, oral, or body language, can send the wrong message in more ways than one. Here are some tips that will improve your communication skills.

1. Stand up straight, and it will show confidence. Smile, and you will seem approachable. Don’t cross your arms over your chest, because this tells people you disapprove. Keep your hands to your side, or if you are sitting, keep them in your lap.

Have confidence when you speak. If you are shy and quiet，project your voice. 2. Never turn your head away from someone when you are speaking to them, because it may show them you don’t care enough to give them your full attention, and it will make it harder for the other person to hear what you are saying.

3. If you always say “I’ve no idea of it”, it will make others feel like you don’t care enough to give a response, or that you aren’t knowledgeable enough to answer. When people ask questions, they want answers. 4. Say something like “I’m in the middle of something, can I get back to you?” or “I don’t want to ill advise you, let me find out for you.”

In written communication, always he clear. Before you send an e-mail, or any type of written communication, read over it at least once, to be sure it makes sense. 5. Written forms of communication can be tricky, because there is no way to put your tone of voice in, so if you feel like you are writing a message on a touchy subject that could he misunderstood, it’s probably best to have a face to face conversation.

A. Have good body language.

B. Listen to the person attentively.

C. Never answer with “I don’t know”.

D. Don’t give the person you are speaking to a quick response.

E. Always look the person in the eye when you are speaking to them.

F. If you aren’t sure it’s clear, have someone else read it before you send it.

G. If someone puts you on the spot, you don’t have to answer them right away.

    Britain’s first zero-carbon homes are being built—and they look like something from a science-fiction movie.

There are 25 eco-friendly homes currently being built in Southmoor, near Abingdon, Oxon. Buyers are able to have the final say on floor layouts，kitchens and bathrooms. One three-bedroom home is on the market for￡801 ,000,with a custom build available to suit your own specification. These eco-friendly houses are powered entirely by electricity from solar panels around the houses. They also have advanced ventilation (通风) systems, making sure that temperatures inside the building don’t go beyond 25℃ for more than 10% of hours annually, as well as mini heat pumps to generate (产生) the heating and hot water on-site. Part of the cooling design includes avoiding east-or west-facing windows, and window shading.

And they’re in high demand. Ian Pritchett, of Ssassy Property, thinks the Government should do more to promote the construction of this type of housing. “Unfortunately, the Government relaxed the proposed 2016 zero-carbon targets after being lobbied(游说)by house builders,” Ian explained. “At present, the main house-building corporations control the land and only build at the rate they are sure will sell, keeping the UK’s housing shortage so that the normal rules of ‘supply and demand’ don’t apply. When there is a shortage of housing, buyers have to purchase what is available rather than what they might want.”

In any sensible society, we would expect the planning system to actively encourage zero-carbon houses，and he tough on anyone failing to deliver the necessary standard. Instead, we have a planning system that focuses on other aspects such as numbers of bedrooms, garden sizes, and parking places. These are important aspects, but they pale into insignificance compared to the catastrophic consequences of climate change.

1.What can a purchaser do before buying the type of housing?

A.Negotiate its price. B.Choose where to build it.

C.Decide how the inside of it looks. D.Design its ventilation.

2.How do people react to the zero-carbon homes?

A.Welcome. B.Uncaring.

C.Skeptical. D.Demanding.

3.What do house-building companies intend to do?

A.Balance the “supply and demand” of houses.

B.Purchase more land to stop climate change.

C.Build more houses powered by the sun.

D.Make it more difficult to buy houses.

4.What’s the author’s attitude to the Government’s planning system?

A.Satisfied. B.Disapproving.

C.Worried. D.Ambiguous.

    In the shadow of Kenya’s Mount Kilimanjaro, nine Rothschild giraffes, the rarest giraffes on the planet, are free to wander at the English-style manor (庄园). Every day shortly before 9am, they come up to the house and stick their heads through the windows and doors in search of morning treats. The manor’s owners, Tanya and Mikey Carr-Hartley, share their dining table with them. And now the couple are sharing the fantastic experience with the public by opening the manor gates to guests at the giraffe hotel, the only hotel of its kind in the world. Now, guests can feed the giraffes at breakfast but can also get up close to them from their second-floor bedrooms.

Mr and Mrs Carr-Hartley，both 38, spent their childhood living close to the house in Nairobi and have always been enthusiastic about the animals. Tanya said, “Mikey and I grew up near this manor house when we were children. We are both third generation Kenyans and have always wanted to work in conservation. Mikey’s family have been related to the protection of animals for many generations. His granddad helped the removal of giraffes as far back as the 1930s because the Rothschild giraffes lost much of their natural living space. When the house came up for sale, we jumped at the chance to buy it as we had always dreamed of owning it. Now, we were absolutely overjoyed to do something for the giraffe protection. Having the giraffes so close is very special and something which people can now experience by staying in one of the ten rooms at the hotel.”

A conservation project to save them was started at the manor in 1974 by the previous owners. “The previous owners ran a very successful breeding (繁殖) programme, where many giraffes were set free into the wild and we hope to continue,” said Tanya.

1.Why are the Carr-Hartley family unusual?

A.They’re living on the rarest giraffes. B.They share their home with giraffes.

C.They’re good at making giraffes’ food. D.They train giraffes to manage the hotel.

2.What can we know about Mikey’s family?

A.It has had a long connection with giraffes. B.It used to raise giraffes around the manor.

C.It built a new manor for the wild giraffes. D.It removed giraffes to Mount Kilimanjaro.

3.Which can best describe the manor’s previous owners’ conservation project?

A.Visitor-friendly. B.Energy-saving. C.Costly. D.Fruitful.

4.What is the suitable title for the text?

A.Giraffes’ breakfast by guests B.Reasons for giraffe protection

C.The world’s only giraffe hotel D.History of the giraffe manor

    Some scientists believe that one of the most intelligent beings on Earth is in fact the octopus (章鱼).

Octopuses usually live at the bottom of river mouths and seas-areas which are not attractive to researchers. They are not social animals so it can be hard to study their interaction with others. And the octopus’ intelligence is not easy for humans to understand. When we observe some animals such as rats or dogs, we can often understand their behavior. Octopuses，however can seem like aliens (外星人). Scientists need to have a lot of imagination to understand what an octopus is thinking!

In the 1950s, the US Air Force sponsored scientists to study the way octopuses use their brains. They hoped that they could use this knowledge to help them build better computers. However, their brains were so complex that the scientists felt it of no significance to continue with it. Octopuses have a very complex nervous system and recent research suggests that they have some of their intelligence inside each arm, which means that each arm can “think” for itself. It also appears that they have a good memory, perhaps similar to a cat’s.

Perhaps the most striking thing about octopuses is their ability to change their color and body pattern. They do this to camouflage themselves to avoid their enemies and also to communicate with others. They can completely change their appearance in less than a second. It can change its skin to look like rocks, sand or planktron (浮游生物).

Some scientists have even suggested that these different patterns and colors are in fact a very hard language-and that each design is a different verb，adjective or noun. But nobody has been able to work out what they might be saying. There’s a long way to go to get to know the octopus completely.

1.What can we infer about the octopus’ intelligence from Paragraph 2?

A.It does not attract scientists. B.Little has been known about it.

C.It is equal to the cat’s or dog’s. D.Much has been done about it.

2.What can we say about scientists’ study on the octopus in the 1950s?

A.They had to give it up eventually. B.They used computers to help.

C.They found its arms could think. D.They judged it lived like a cat.

3.What does the underlined word “camouflage” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

A.Relax. B.Strengthen. C.Hide. D.Express.

4.What does the author think of the octopuses?

A.They are the smartest animals. B.They’re easy to be seen in the sea.

C.It is useful to copy their language. D.It is difficult to understand them.

Buckingham Palace

It is the official residence of Queen Elizabeth II in London. The architectural core of Buckingham Palace is the former Buckingham House，built in 1703. You can visit the state rooms from August to October when the Queen is on holiday. It is one of the world’s most familiar buildings. It has 775 rooms. During the summer the famous Changing of the Guards takes place at the front of the palace at 11:30 and is a popular event for visitors to the capital.

Big Ben and Westminster Palace

It is one of London’s best-known landmarks. Big lien is the name of the clock inside the Clock Tower. It lies at the north-eastern end of the Houses of Parliament. Westminster Palace is one of the largest parliaments in the world. It was built between 1840 and 1880.

The Tower of London

The Tower of London is a historical monument in Central London on the north bank of the river Thames. It was founded by William the Conqueror. It was a palace and a prison (for Queen Elizabeth I for example).There you can see strange guards called “the Beefeaters”. Since the beginning of the 14th century, the Tower of London has been the home of the world famous British Crown Jewels-they are a must of your visit!

Trafalgar Square

It was named in 1835 to give honour to the memory of the British victory over the French at Trafalgar in 1805. There is a huge statue of Admiral Nelson (the British hero killed during the battle) in the middle of the square. It is a popular tourist attraction with the four lion statues.

1.Which has the second longest history?

A.Trafalgar Square. B.The Tower of London.

C.Westminster Palace. D.Buckingham House.

2.What is The Tower of London noted for in the world?

A.Its strange guards. B.Its British Crown Jewels.

C.Its founder. D.Its geographical site.

3.Why was Trafalgar Square built?

A.A battle happened here. B.It could be good for tourism.

C.Admiral Nelson was horn here. D.Four lion statues had been built.

假设你是红星中学高三学生李华。请根据以下四幅图的先后顺序。用英语写一篇短文向校刊“英语园地”投稿，记述你和同学们上周组织“向白色污染说不”主题活动的全过程。

注意：词数不少于 60。

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假设你是红星中学高三学生李华。你校交换生Jim 打算寒假出京旅游，发来邮件请你推荐一座中国历史文化名城。请给他回复邮件，内容包括：

1. 你的推荐；

2. 推荐理由;

3. 食宿建议。

注意：1. 词数不少于 50；

2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Jim,

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

Financial Education-Awareness Dilemma

When it comes to financial education, the majority of today's youth will regard it as a necessity for certain specific people who want to make their career in the financial world. 1. Actually, elementary financial education is a must for all, as money transaction is an essential part of our day-to-day life.

Suppose you have $100 in a saving account that pays simple interest at the rate of 2%per year. lf you leave the money in the account, how much will you have accumulated after 5 years: more than $102, exactly $102, or less than $102? The test might look simple, but only half of the people surveyed gave the correct answer.

2.The explanation goes as follows: People with low levels of financial literacy suffer from that lack of knowledge at every stage of their lives. Researchers on this subject say people with a high degree of financial literacy are more likely to plan for their retirement. 3.

On the contrary, people who have a lower degree of financial literacy tend to borrow more, accumulate less wealth, and pay more in fees related financial products. They are less likely to invest, more likely to experience difficulty with debt, and less likely to know the terms of their mortgages and other loans. Thus, the cost of this financial ignorance is very high. 4.

What  is the solution? 5. Like reading and math, financial education must become part of the core curriculum in our schools. Likewise, parents should engage in regular, constructive conversations about money matters. This will give their kids a solid foundation for financial well-being, which will keep on giving returns throughout the course of their lives.

A. Financial education must start early.

B. However, they miss an important point.

C. Why does each of us have to face a financial challenge?

D. Why does financial literacy matter so much in our society'?

E. Rich people are generally better educated on financial management.

F. Besides, these people have more than double the wealth of people who don’t.

G. For example, they frequently make late credit card payments, overspend their credit limit, etc.

    “If I only had a little humility, I’d be perfect,” the media giant Ted Turner supposedly said sometime in the 1990s. Why be modest? Aristotle said: “All men by nature desire to know.” Intellectual humility is a particular instance of humility, since you can be down-to-earth about most things but still ignore your mental limitations.

Intellectual humility means recognising that we don’t know everything. Actually, it means we should acknowledge that we're probably biased in our belief about just how much we understand and seek out the sources of wisdom that we lack.

The Internet and digital media have created the impression of limitless knowledge at our fingertips. But, by making us lazy, they have opened up a space that ignorance can fill. The psychologist Tania Lombrozo of the University of California explained how technology enhances our illusions (错觉) of wisdom. She argues that the way we access information is critical to our understanding — and the more easily we can recall an image, word or statement, the more likely we’ll think we’ve successfully learned it, and so withdraw from effortful cognitive processing. Logical puzzles presented in an unfriendly font (字体), for example, can encourage someone to make extra effort to solve them. Yet this approach runs counter to the nice designs of the apps and sites that populate our screens, where our brain processes information in a “smooth” way. What about all the information that presents online? Well, your capacity to learn from it depends on your attitudes. Intellectually humble people don’t hide or ignore their weaknesses. In fact, they see them as sources of personal development, and use arguments as an opportunity to refine their views. People who are humble by nature tend to be more open-minded and quicker to resolve disputes, since they recognise that their own opinions might not be valid.

At the other end of the scale lies intellectual arrogance. Such arrogance almost always originates from the egocentric bias – the tendency to overestimate their own virtue or importance, ignoring the role of chance or the influence of other people’s actions on their lives. This is what makes these people credit success to themselves and failure to circumstance. From an evolutionary perspective, intellectual arrogance can also be seen as a way of achieving dominance through forcing one’s view on others. Intellectually arrogant people hardly invest mental resources in discussion or working towards group consensus, thus making it hard for groups to work successfully.

The Thrive Center for Human Development in California, which seeks to help young people tum into successful adults, is funding a series of major studies about intellectual humility. Their hypothesis is that humility, curiosity and openness are key to a fulfilling life. “Without humility, you are unable to learn,” Laszlo Bock, Google’s Head of People Operations, notes.

1.The passage is mainly about ______.

A.the harm arrogance does to us

B.the key elements to a fulfilling life

C.the significance of intellectual humility

D.the way people access information online

2.Technology enhances our illusions of wisdom because it ______.

A.enables people to think critically

B.offers too much unreliable information

C.allows easy access to abundant information

D.makes it hard for people to recall information

3.According to Para.3, intellectually humble people ______.

A.value others’ opinions more than their own

B.use online information to better themselves

C.are unwilling to show their strengths

D.prefer to solve difficult problems

4.The author will probably agree that ______.

A.intellectual arrogance is the result of evolution

B.intellectually arrogant people often lack team spirits

C.successful people are often unaware of their limitations

D.circumstances don’t favor intellectually arrogant people

    One day, gardeners might not just hear the buzz of bees among their flowers, but the whirr of robots, too. Scientists have managed to turn an unassuming drone (无人机) into a remote-controlled pollinator (授粉媒介) by attaching horsehairs coated with a special, sticky gel to its underbelly.

Animal pollinators are needed for the reproduction of 90% of flowering plants and one third of human food crops. Chief among those are bees — but many bee populations in the United States have been in steep decline in recent decades. Thus, the decline of bees isn't just worrisome because it could disrupt ecosystems, but also because it could disrupt agriculture and economy. People have been trying to come up with replacement techniques, but none of them are especially effective yet.

Scientists have thought about using drones, but they haven't figured out how to make free-flying robot insects that can rely on their own power source without being attached to a wire. “It’s very tough work,” said senior author Eijiro Miyako, a chemist at the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology. His particular contribution to the field involves a gel, one he’d considered a mistake 10 years before and stuck in a storage cabinet. When it was rediscovered a decade later, it hadn’t dried up or degraded at all. “I was so surprised because it still had high viscosity,” Miyako said.

The chemist noticed that when dropped, the gel absorbed an impressive amount of dust from the floor. Miyako realized this material could be very useful for picking up pollen (花粉). He and his colleagues chose a drone and attached horsehairs to its smooth surface to mimic a bee’s fuzzy body. They coated those horsehairs in the gel, and then controlled the drones over lilies, where they would pick up the pollen from one flower and then deposit the pollen at another one, thus fertilizing it.

The scientists looked at the hairs under a scanning electron microscope and counted up the pollen grains attached to the surface and found that the drones whose horsehairs had been coated with the gel had about 10 times more pollen than those that had not been coated with the gel.

Miyako does not think such drones would replace bees altogether, but could simply help bees with their pollinating duties. There’s a lot of work to be done before that's a reality, however. Small drones will need to become more controllable and energy efficient, as well as smarter, with better GPS and artificial intelligence.

1.What does the underlined word “viscosity” in Para.3 probably mean?

A.Hardness. B.Stickiness.

C.Flexibility. D.Purity.

2.We can learn from the passage that ______.

A.bees disrupt both agriculture and economy

B.scientists have invented self-powered robot insects

C.bees in the United States are on the edge of extinction

D.Miyako found the special feature of the gel by chance

3.A drone works best in picking up pollen when ______.

A.its body is made like a bee’s

B.its GPS works more efficiently

C.some flowers are coated with the gel

D.horsehairs with the gel are attached to it

4.According to Eijiro Miyako, the drones ______.

A.are not yet ready for practical use

B.may eventually replace bees in the future

C.are much more efficient than bee pollinators

D.can provide a solution to economic depression

My Grandpa Forgets Who I Am

A few days ago I visited my grandfather in hospital. He has Alzhemier’s—a degenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gets worse over time. I thought I was prepared to see him. I knew chances were slim that he'd actually recognize me.

He didn’t. As a matter of fact, he had no idea that he even had grandchildren. But he was excited that somebody came to visit him. I tried to explain to him who I was. But after he told me multiple times that he didn’t have grandchildren, I gave up. And my heart broke into a million little pieces.

I was tired of explaining things to him. So I just smiled. He smiled back. It's a genuine smile. Like a long time ago, when he’d take me by the hand and made this big world a little bit less scary for me. Now I have to take his hand.

We sat in silence for a little while, before he told me to call my grandma. This was the first time I had tried so hard to hold back tears. My grandma died four years ago and he didn't remember. He thought she was stuck on her way to pick him up.

My grandpa used to be a strong, hard-working man. He was the person you turned to when you needed your car fixed, your tires changed or something heavy to be carried. Sadly, that man left this world a long time ago, and left behind a man that is lost and scared.

I want to help him. I want to make him feel better. I want to tell him about his old life, and how great it was. So I sat with him and I held his hand, and every once in a while I told him how good he looked and how much I liked the color of his shirt and how it brought out the blue in his eyes. I told him that my grandma was on her way whenever he asked about her, and I made sure the glass in his hand was always filled with water.

I can’t take away his pain. I can’t help him remember. I can’t make the disease go away. All I can do is hold on to the memories—hold on for both of us.

1.When the author first saw her grandpa in hospital ______.

A.she gave up on him

B.they were both excited

C.he didn’t recognize her

D.they talked about the past

2.The author was close to tears because ______.

A.grandma died about four years ago

B.grandpa needed to be taken care of

C.grandma didn’t make it to the hospital

D.grandpa believed grandma was still alive

3.Which of the following best describe the author?

A.Tolerant and merciful.

B.Considerate and patient.

C.Warm-hearted and grateful.

D.Strong-minded and generous.

4.The author wrote this passage to ______.

A.show pity towards her grandpa

B.record memories of her grandpa

C.express deep love for her grandpa

D.call on further study on Alzheimer’s