Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated (躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.

In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely — a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “creative voice”.

“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”

Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book talks about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school to graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book and a short-story collection.

1.What can we know about Cisneros in her childhood?

A.Her brothers disliked her.

B.She felt herself a nobody.

C.She was too shy to go to school.

D.She did not meet any good teachers.

2.The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to ________.

A.run away from her family B.develop her writing style

C.make a lot of friends D.search for a husband

3.According to Cisneros, what was the key factor in her success?

A.Her childhood experience.

B.Her training in the Workshop.

C.Her feeling of being different.

D.Her early years in college.

4.What do we learn about The House on Mango Street?

A.It enjoys great popularity among students.

B.It is a book of poetry written by Cisneros.

C.It wasn’t a success as it was written in Spanish.

D.It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine.

    Notre-Dame de Paris, a cathedral church in Paris, is the most famous of the Gothic cathedrals of the Middle Ages. For the French, it represents something immortal, ever-present and unchanging, like a mountain. Built over almost two centuries, the Notre-Dame is, as President Emmanuel Macron said, “where the French lived all their great moments”. Soldiers prayed here before leaving for the Crusades; Napoleon Bonaparte was crowned here; it survived the French Revolution, two World Wars and the Nazi occupation. It is where men bend their knees to profess love and thousands of tourists take photos every day.

A fire, whose cause was not identified yet, engulfed (吞没), on April 15th, the cathedral's upper structure. More than 400 firefighters took part in the 15-hour battle to control the blaze (火苗) that triggered sorrow over the globe. The extent of the damage is still unknown, but the fire destroyed much of the gothic cathedral’s wood-timbered roof and spire (塔尖). The cathedral will certainly be restored (the French government promises), but the sight of flames bringing down the spire moved the world in a manner far exceeding its religious significance.

French Culture Minister Franck Riester on Thursday said the government would draw all the consequences from the huge flames that destroyed the centuries-old Notre Dame Cathedral, adding measures to protect the national heritage were on the table. “Staff from the fire department, the culture ministry and the city town hall rushed to the Cathedral, when the fire started, to protect the main artworks that were inside. The artworks, which include relics such as the Christ's crown of thorns and French king Saint-Louis's 13th century tunic, were first moved to the city town hall and will now be transferred to the nearby Louvre Museum .” the minister told Le Parisian newspaper in an interview without giving details on the possible measures.

1.What can we learn about the Notre-Dame de Paris?

A.It is the most well-known cathedral. B.Most of the French think little of it.

C.It was built by Napoleon Bonaparte. D.It’s still in existence after two World Wars.

2.What is true about the Cathedral in the accident?

A.Only the spire was brought down by the flames.

B.It was completely burnt in the fire.

C.The gilded crown of thorns in it was gone forever.

D.The cause of the accident to the Cathedral was still unknown.

3.According to Franck Riester, what has already done by the government?

A.Rebuild the cathedral.

B.Rescue the artworks inside the cathedral.

C.Transfer the relics to the nearby Louvre Museum.

D.Release the cause of the fire to the public.

假设你是北京市某中学的学生李华，请根据以下提示，针对北京市遭沙尘暴袭击的情况，向某英语报社写一封信，呼吁大家植树造林，保护环境。

1. 过去家乡树木成林：如今人们毁林种地建房；

2. 气候变化，土地沙漠化；

3. 植树造林，人人有责。

注意：1. 词数100左右：开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3. 开头语已为你写好。

Dear Editor,

I’m a student at a middle school of Beijing.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

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。

One day, Dad and I was taking a walk by the lake while a boy rode by at a very high speed. Suddenly, we heard the loud scream. We turned around and saw the boy struggling in the lake, crying out help, Daddy and I ran towards him quickly and had pulled him out of the water. However, the boy rode away immediate without saying “Thank you”. I felt disappointing at his behavior. To my surprises, the boy came back with hot drinks and dry towels several minutes late. Seeing this, I knew I had misunderstood him and felt ashamed of me.

阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

There were many great philosophers in ancient China. Confucius stressed the significance of 1. (kind), duty and order in society, 2. ideas influenced Chinese society for over 2, 000 years.

Mencius was a student of Confucius’s ideas. His teachings were similar to 3. of Confucius. He 4. (bring) up by his mother and had an important position in the government of 5. state. He believed man is good, that people would be good if government was kind, and 6. people were more important than rulers. Mencius wrote a book 7. (call) The Book of Mencius in his last years.

Mozi was also an 8. (influence) thinker, whose beliefs were similar to Confucius’s 9. some ways. Born into a poor family, he became famous for his unusual clothes and behaviour. Because he considered that government was most important, he spent many years 10. (try) to find a state where people would follow his teaching. He believed all men were equal.

    On Thursday morning, two teenage boys were rescued by a drone (无人机) in Australia while lifeguards were still training to use the machine.

The ______, aged 15-17, got into difficulties about 700 feet off the coast of Lennox Head, New South Wales (NSW). A passerby saw them ______ in dangerous waves. Lifesavers ______ sent the drone to drop a lifeboat, and the pair made their way safely to the ______.

The drone, known as “Little Pipper”, was actually not ______ to be saving anyone just yet---lifeguards were being trained to ______ the machine. When a call came about the swimmers ______, the drone happened to be nearby.

Jai Sheridan was the lifeguard who ______ the drone. He described the experience as ______. “The Little Ripper ______ proved itself today. It is a highly efficient (高效的) piece of lifesaving equipment. I was ______ the drone when the alarm was raised. I directed it towards the swimmers, and dropped the ______. With its support they made their way to safety. They were ______, but not hurt. The teens were rescued in just 70 seconds with the drone---while a lifeguard would have taken up to six minutes to ______ the rescue.”

John Barilaro, an official of the state, ______ the rescue as historic. “It was the world’s ______ rescue by the unmanned aircraft”, he said. “Never before has a drone been used to ______ swimmers like this.”

Last December, the NSW state government ______ some “Little Ripper” drones for 247,000 pounds. ______ some are designed to spot sharks, others are ______ with lifeboats, alarms and loudspeakers. “It was money well spent,” said John Barilaro.

1.A.swimmers B.pilots C.visitors D.rescuers

2.A.playing B.surfing C.struggling D.training

3.A.finally B.secretly C.immediately D.gratefully

4.A.island B.ship C.hospital D.shore

5.A.advised B.supposed C.allowed D.guided

6.A.operate B.repair C.work D.power

7.A.in charge B.in place C.in action D.in trouble

8.A.flew B.brought C.checked D.designed

9.A.funny B.useful C.amazing D.important

10.A.necessarily B.basically C.probably D.certainly

11.A.studying B.piloting C.boarding D.inspecting

12.A.lifebelt B.lifeline C.lifeguard D.lifeboat

13.A.sick B.tired C.excited D.surprised

14.A.record B.complete C.experience D.report

15.A.thanked B.greeted C.imagined D.praised

16.A.latest B.best C.first D.quickest

17.A.rescue B.warn C.protect D.reward

18.A.offered B.bought C.booked D.made

19.A.Since B.Unless C.While D.Before

20.A.equipped B.connected C.covered D.filled

    Taking good notes is a time-saving skill that will help you to become a better student in several ways. 1. Second, your notes are excellent materials to refer to when you are studying for a test. Third, note-taking offers variety to your study time and helps you to hold your interest.

You will want to take notes during classroom discussions and while reading a textbook or doing research for a report. 2. Whenever or however you take notes, keep in mind that note-taking is a selective(选择的) process. That means you must first decide what is important enough to include in your notes.

3.

●Read the text quickly to find the main facts and ideas in it.

●Carefully read the text and watch for words that can show main points and supporting facts.

●Write your notes in your own words.

●4.

●Note any questions or ideas you may have about what was said or written.

As you take notes, you may want to use your own shorthand(速记). When you do, be sure that you understand your symbols and that you use them all the time. 5.

A. Use words, not complete sentences.

B. There are three practical note-taking methods.

C. You must write your notes on separate paper.

D. Otherwise, you may not be able to read your notes later.

E. You will also want to develop your own method for taking notes.

F. The following methods may work best for you.

G. First, the simple act of writing something down makes it easier for you to understand.

    Students perform less well in final exams if smartphones are allowed in class, for non-academic (非学业的) purposes in lectures, a new study in Educational Psychology finds. Students who don’t use smartphones themselves but attend lectures where their use is acceptable also do worse, suggesting that smartphone use damages the group learning environment.

Researchers from Rutgers University in the US performed an in-class experiment to lest whether dividing attention between smartphones and the lecturer during the class affected students’ performance in within-lecture tests and a final exam. 118 students at Rutgers University took part in the experiment during one term of their course. Smartphones were not allowed in half of the lectures and allowed in the other half. When smartphones were allowed, students were asked to record whether they had used them for non-academic purposes during the lecture.

The study found that having a smartphone didn’t lower students’ scores in comprehension tests within lectures, but it did lower scores in the final exam by at least 5%, or half a grade. This finding shows for the first time that the main effect of divided attention in the classroom is on the length of time in keeping memory, with fewer things of a study task later remembered. In addition, when the use of smartphones was allowed in class, performance was also poorer for students who did not use them as well as for those who did.

The study’s lead author, Professor Arnold Glass, added: “These findings should alarm students and teachers that dividing attention is having a not obvious but harmful effect that is damaging their exam performance and final grade. To help manage the use of smartphones in the classroom, teachers should explain to students the alarming effect—not only for themselves, but for the whole class.”

This is the first-ever study in an actual classroom showing a relationship between losing attention from smartphones and exam performance. However, more researches are required to see how students are affected by using smartphones after school.

1.What is the purpose of paragraph 1?

A.To present the main findings of the experiment.

B.To explain how the experiment was carried out.

C.To give details about the result of the experiment.

D.To suggest what should be done for teachers and students.

2.We know from the experiment that having a smartphone in class ________.

A.had no bad effect if students do not use them

B.caused an average 5% drop in students’ scores

C.made it harder for students to keep things in mind

D.had a bad effect on students’ performance in all tests

3.What’s Professor Glass’ attitude towards using smartphones in class?

A.He was against it.

B.He was in favor of it.

C.He cared little about it.

D.He doubted the findings.

4.What is the research team likely to do next?

A.To find out ways to improve students’ memory.

B.To call on schools to ban smartphones completely.

C.To study the influence of using smartphones after class.

D.To do researches on focusing attention in actual classrooms.

    It's easy to imagine the Sahara as a lifeless and timeless place, where the merciless forces of nature rule over any sense of human history. However, that’s far from the truth. Some corners of the Western Sahara, found along the northwestern coast of Africa, are littered with hundreds of ancient stone monuments from centuries worth of human culture, some of which date back to over 10,000 years ago.

Between 2002 and 2009, the Western Sahara Project, led by the University of East Anglia in the UK, documented the archaeology(考古学) and environment of northwestern Sahara around the town of Tifariti. The monuments come in a variety of forms and were constructed by a number of different cultures across the centuries. Many appear to be little more than long rows of piled rocks, while others are purposefully placed large stones standing proudly in a circular pattern. Others are 5-meter-high (16 feet) dry stone wall constructions that could have only been built by human hands.

It’s unclear what most of the monuments are meant to represent, although most are assumed to be burial mounds(墓冢), used as part of a funerary ceremony, or sign at the presence of a grave. This desire to construct burial mounds is something that can be found in countless cultures across the planet, from the Scythians of ancient Siberia to the sea-faring Vikings of northern Europe, and it looks like the ancient people of Western Sahara were not different.

For one reason or another, this natural basin area managed to remain a place of human activity over the millennia, especially when times became tough in the surrounding areas. "One of our theories is that as the Sahara dried between five and six thousand years ago—this is one of the refugia(避难所), an area where water remained," Joanne Clarke, prehistoric archaeologist at the University of East Anglia, told Atlas Obscura.

1.How were the monuments constructed?

A.They are in different shapes.

B.They are piled up on one another.

C.They took about 500 years to complete.

D.Most of them are parallel to each other.

2.What will the researchers probably focus on about the monuments in future?

A.The way to build burial mounds.

B.The symbols of different monuments.

C.The original appearances of the monuments.

D.Their difference between the Sahara and other regions.

3.What does Joanne Clarke think of the Sahara in history?

A.It was the mere source of water in that area.

B.It used to be a shelter from sufferings for people.

C.People used to hold various activities in its honor.

D.It shouldn’t have dried five and six thousand years ago.

4.What can be the best title of the text?

A.The Sahara used to be a heaven for every culture.

B.The Sahara is really a lifeless and timeless place.

C.The burial bounds represent different cultures in the Sahara.

D.The Western Sahara is covered with mysterious ancient stone monuments.

    It's hard to overstate the importance of rainforests in keeping the world a place we want to go on living in. Yet they are being cleared at a terrifying rate, in part because methods to check on their protection are failing. The Nature Conservancy think they have a solution by listening to the rainforests' voices, and researchers they have partnered with have published a paper in Science confirming its viability(可行性).

Forest monitors struggle to keep up with what is happening in areas that are large and remote from population centers. Satellite images can flag complete destruction, but they do a poor job of measuring when a forest's diversity is degraded. Researchers have started tying small, solar-powered sound recorders to trees, setting them to listen at regular intervals, particularly dawn and dusk when the rainforest is most alive. The recorders provide an indication(显示) of the animal sounds for hundreds of meters in all directions. This marks a major advance over camera traps, which of course only point in one direction and are blocked from seeing far.

Reviewing several studies on the workings of these, Dr. Zuzana Burivalova of Princeton University and co-authors report that these sound recorders supply an amount of information about the forests' true condition, far more than can be showed by other remote sensors. Moreover, it is far cheaper to visit an area once to put in a recorder than to stick around for larger measurements.

Burivalova and colleagues also note some less obvious advantages. Once the data is uploaded, it can be analyzed by anyone. Deep learning programs can be used to tie sounds to their makers. Calls can be assessed in many ways, revealing both the number of noisy animals in the recorders' vicinity(附近) and the diversity of species that make them. The authors call for "a global organization to host a global acoustic(声学) platform" to provide a massive database of rainforest sounds, allowing comparisons between healthy and degraded rainforests half a world apart.

1.What is the possible reason for the rainforests disappearing rapidly according to paragraph 1?

A.The climate changes have a bad effect on it.

B.People attach no importance to its protection.

C.Goods related to rainforests are popular among consumers.

D.There is a lack of good means to monitor its real condition.

2.What is the disadvantage of the Satellite images?

A.It cannot keep track of the wildlife in the forest.

B.It cannot predict the wildlife diversity with cameras.

C.It cannot figure out the wildlife diversity in the forest.

D.It cannot mark the disappearance of the rainforests clearly.

3.What can we learn from paragraph 3?

A.The forests' true condition is worse than expected.

B.The sound recorders are more efficient and reliable.

C.The remote sensors are far more effective than the sound recorders.

D.They need larger measurements to record the rainforest sounds.

4.What does the underlined word "them" in paragraph 4 refer to?

A.Animal calls. B.Obvious advantages.

C.Previous studies. D.Nearby recorders.

    Like their ancient toga-wearing counterparts, modern philosophers continue to disagree on the nature of freewill. Do we really have any control over the choices we make and the things we desire, and if so, to what degree?

Theories of freewill vary, but the ancient words of Plato still line up with our modern perceptions(概念) of temptation and willpower. The respected Greek philosopher argued that the human experience is one of constant struggle between the intellect and the body, between rationality and desire. Along these lines, true freedom is only achievable when willpower unchains us from bodily, emotional, instinctual slavery.

You can find similar thoughts throughout world religions, most of which offer a particular and often difficult path to rise above our darker natures.

And science? Well, science mostly agrees with all of this. Willpower is all about overcoming your natural desires to eat cupcakes, skip your morning workout, play games on mobile phone, hit the snooze alarm and check your e-mail during a funeral.

Your willpower, however, is limited. If life were a video game, you'd see a glowing "willpower" or "ego"(自我) meter at the top of the screen next to your "life" meter. Successfully resist one temptation, and the meter drains a little. The next temptation drains the "willpower" meter even more, until there's nothing left at all.

Our modern scientific understanding of willpower in large part stems from a 1996 research experiment involving chocolate and radishes(小红萝卜). Psychologist Roy Baumeister led a study in which 67 test subjects were presented with tempting chocolate chip cookies and other chocolate-flavored treats before a persistence-testing puzzle. Here's the catch: The researchers asked some of the participants to withdraw from sweets and snack on radishes instead.

Baumeister's results told a fascinating story. The test subjects who resisted the sweet stuff in favor of radishes performed poorly on the persistence test. They simply didn't have the willpower left to resist slacking off(松懈).

The research inspired more than a thousand additional studies discussing everything from the influence of positive messages to the ego-sapping power of daily decisions.

Studies also show that cognitive capacity also affects our ability to hold out against temptation. Cognitive capacity is essentially your working memory, which you employ when resisting a temptation ... or holding a string of numbers in your head. A 1999 study from the University of Iowa professor Baba Shiv found that people tasked with remembering a two-digit number held out better than people remembering a seven-digit number when tempted with chocolate cake.

1.What do you understand by ‘freewill’?

A.The control we have over the choices.

B.The choices we make and the things we desire.

C.The choices that philosophers force us to make.

D.Our perception of temptation.

2.According to Plato, when is true freedom available?

A.Willpower to realize one’s own ego. B.Our ability to overcome temptation.

C.Our ability to remember things. D.The desire to give in to temptation.

3.What is meant by ‘cognitive capacity’?

A.When there is a struggle between the intellect and the body.

B.When our willpower helps us to overcome our basic instincts.

C.When we desire that which we cannot achieve.

D.When we have no control over our ego.

假定你是李华，你的英国朋友Terry一行人要来你市体验元宵节，他请你帮他们预订酒店，请你给他回一封电子邮件。要点如下：

1. 表示欢迎；

2. 询问到达时间；

3. 询问具体要求（价位、房间数等）。

注意：

1. 词数100左右；

2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

参考词汇：元宵节the Lantern Festival

Dear Terry,

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours sincerely

Li Hua

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。

Our school has witnessed quite a few change in the past few years. There used to being a playground on the one side of the main road. However, now that you can see is a new classroom building, so the playground is now in the front of the school. On the other side stood a new building—our library. Most of we students like to study in the library partly because its quiet learning environment is beneficial with our study. Another reason is that there is a large number of learning materials in the library that offer us a great deal of information. I think our school becomes beautiful than ever before.

根据句意及汉语提示，用单词的正确形式填空。

1.I will meet you at the main ________ (入口) to the school.

2.Would it be ________ (方便的) for you to pick me up at four o’clock and take me to the airport?

3.If you are lost in the mountains, stay ________ (镇静) in the face of darkness and the unknown.

4.Out of ________ (好奇心), he opened the letter secretly.

5.I would be ________ (感激的) if you could give me a kind consideration.

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。

The airplane maker Airbus has announced plans 1. (quit) making its famous A380 airplane. The A380 is the world’s largest passenger airplane and 2. (be) in service for 12 years. People said it was the future of flying. However, 3. (shift) in the demands of passengers mean the days of huge, four-engine passenger planes are over. Airbus decided to stop 4. (produce) of the 541-seat A380. The decision was due to sales that were not 5. satisfying as expected. Airbus said it would no longer build the A380 in 2021. Significant job losses at companies linked to the plane will be 6. (necessary) caused.

The A380 first 7. (fly) in April 2005. Britain’s leader called it a unique symbol of economic strength while Spain’s leader called it a dream. The jets were designed to make airports less busy by reducing 8. number of planes which was on the increase in the sky. However, booming air travel brought the demand for twin-engine planes that can fly non-stop to 9. people want to travel. An Airbus spokesperson said the A380 was a “passenger magnet”, and he was 10. (disappoint) that airlines misunderstood and marketed it poorly.

    I have a degree in business. But it was my father's_______for me to seek to attain a business _______He thought that having a business major would_______me more available choices and make me more_______in entering a global labor market. I_______his advice. However, even though my college experiences were_______,I had no interest in any_______0f commerce, let alone having a long-term career as a businesswoman.

After I_______，I worked as a marketing planner at a computer company. My_______and working environment were great; yet I________didn't feel happy doing something that held little ________for me. After two months of working there, I made up my mind to________and decided to do what I love, namely________history.I have now been doing this job for over twenty years.I am ________of being with my students.

If you are in a________Where you don't love what you are learning or doing, please ask yourself what you are really________about, and what you truly want for your life. Don't________to get yourself a quick answer. Take some time to think about what career could bring________to you.

I like this motto "Success is not the key to happiness.________happiness is the key to success."

Happiness________the inside of you, not from the outside. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

1.A.ambition B.commitment C.decision D.response

2.A.experience B.position C.activity D.major

3.A.guarantee B.save C.leave D.pass

4.A.independent B.competitive C.energetic D.flexible

5.A.ignored B.valued C.took D.opposed

6.A.fantastic B.awkward C.painful D.plain

7.A.paper B.field C.college D.job

8.A.matured B.graduated C.succeeded D.trained

9.A.future B.dream C.scholarship D.pay

10.A.only B.also C.still D.even

11.A.advantage B.appeal C.chance D.trouble

12.A.quit B.continue C.consider D.wait

13.A.promoting B.writing C.teaching D.studying

14.A.fond B.tired C.proud D.careful

15.A.firm B.game C.story D.place

16.A.anxious B.optimistic C.enthusiastic D.nervous

17.A.rush B.hesitate C.intend D.stop

18.A.love B.joy C.confidence D.knowledge

19.A.As a result B.On the whole C.In the meanwhile D.On the contrary

20.A.applies to B.spreads to C.differs from D.arises from

    Earlier this year I removed all Internet services from my home, which was very upsetting at first, but I have lived that way. 1.

I was not content with the time I was wasting—I felt I could do more purposeful things than spend it on the Internet. If there is something I want to research on the Internet. I write it down and use that list when I have Internet access, 2. I’ll go to the office, the library, the coffee shop, or some other place with free public Wi-Fi, and work on what I need to do online.

3. I log on (登录) to watch some videos or laugh at funny pictures, but I go on the Internet with the intention of doing these things. Whenever I’m on the Internet now, I use it in a deliberate way, a way that benefits me and my life, and a way that adds value.

4. I could focus on writing without being disturbed. I have more time to read, to write, to think, to exercise and to walk. Because I’ m out of the house and there are people around. I meet new people. Additionally, I have more time for friends and I feel less stressed and my thoughts are clearer. My mind is more focused on important things. 5. Plus, I no longer long for the Internet like I once did.

It will be upsetting at first, but you will live, and your life will be better without it.

A. I don ’t have a monthly Internet bill.

B. Now the Internet is a tool I use to improve my life.

C. Now I’m forced to leave the house to get the Internet.

D. This doesn’t mean I think the Internet is bad or wrong.

E. Since I got rid of the Internet at home I’ve found so many benefits.

F. Here are some of my tips to use the Internet in a more productive way.

G. It ended up being the most productive and wisest decision I’ve ever made.

    Pigeons in London have a bad reputation. Some people call them flying rats. And many blame them for causing pollution with their droppings. But now the birds are being used to fight another kind of pollution in this city of 8.5 million.

“The problem for air pollution is that it’s been largely ignored as an issue for a long time,” says Andrea Lee, who works for the London-based environmental organization Client Earth. “People don’t realize how bad it is, and how it actually affects their health.” London’s poor air quality is linked to nearly 10,000 early deaths a year. Lee says, citing(引用)a report released by the city manager last year. If people were better informed about the pollution they’ re breathing, she says, they could pressure the government to do something about it.

Nearby, on a windy hill in London’s Regent’s Park, an experiment is underway that could help—the first week of flights by the Pigeon Air Patrol. It all began when Pierre Duquesnoy, the director for DigitasLBi, a marketing firm, won a London Design Festival contest last year to show how a world problem could be solved using Twitter. Duquesnoy, from France, chose the problem of air pollution.

“Basically, I realized how important the problem was,” he says.  “But also I realized that most of the people around me didn’t know anything about it.” Duquesnoy says he wants to better measure pollution, while at the same time making the results accessible to the public through Twitter.

“So”, he wondered, “how could we go across the city quickly collecting as much data as possible?” Drones were his first thought. But it’s illegal to fly them over London. “But pigeons can fly above London, right?” he says. “They live—actually, they are Londoners as well. So, yeah, I thought about using pigeons equipped with mobile apps. And we can use not just street pigeons, but racing pigeons, because they fly pretty quickly and pretty low.”

So it might be time for Londoners to have more respect for their pigeons. The birds may just be helping to improve the quality of the city’s air.

1.What can we infer about London’s air quality from Paragraph 2?

A.Londoners are very satisfied with it.

B.The government is trying to improve it.

C.Londoners should pay more attention to it.

D.The government has done a lot to improve it.

2.Duquesnoy attended the London Design Festival to _________.

A.entertain Londoners. B.solve a world problem.

C.design a product for sale. D.protect animals like pigeons.

3.Why did Duquesnoy give up using drones to fly across London?

A.Because they are too expensive. B.Because they fly too quickly.

C.Because they are forbidden. D.Because they fly too high.

4.Which can be the best title for the text?

A.Clean air in London. B.London’s dirty secret.

C.London’s new pollution fighter. D.Causes of air pollution in London.

    Cortana, Alexa ,Siri ,These are names of robotic voices that are often programmed on electronic tablets. They also become default (默认) identities for people with speech disorders who rely on technology to communicate. Now some speech scientists are developing personalized voices to reflect the broader diversity of the people who use them. To do it, they are tapping into a vast network of volunteers who are donating their voices to share with people who can’t speak.

The effort to build an international “Human Voicebank” has attracted more than 17,000 volunteers from 110 countries, including Priyanka Pandya, a 16-year-old from Columbia, Md., who plans to spend her winter vacation recording a string of sentences into her computer “To be able to give somebody the gift of voice, I think that’s really, really powerful,” she said.

“Everyone has a voice,” said Rupal Patel, founder of VocaliD, the company that started the voicebank. “Even people who are unable to speak have sounds that are unique to them.” Her company designs personalized voices by recording the unique sounds of the user, and then mixing them with 6 to 10 hours of recordings from a voice donor, matched by age, gender and region. The company is developing voices now for its first 100 customers.

Also, people’s voices change. The company is looking for donors who are willing to record their voices, and then record them again a few years later, as they get older.

Some of the first customers say they are happy with the results, John A. Gregoire was one of the first customers to receive a personalized voice from Vocalid last December. The voice came eight years after he developed ALS (肌萎缩侧索硬化症) and more than six years have passed since his voice became unintelligible to everyone except his wife and youngest son. “Having a distinctive voice is like getting something back that was stolen.” John said.

1.What can we know about the voicebank?

A.It collects all kinds of voices.

B.It gains strong public support.

C.It helps to recognize special voices.

D.It offers people personalized voices free.

2.What does the example of John A. Gregoire stress?

A. Customers' desire for personalized voices.

B.VocaliD's efforts to develop personalized voices.

C.Customers'satisfaction with personalized voices.

D.VocaliD's success in designing personalized voices.

3.What does the underlined word “unintelligible” mean in the last paragraph?

A.Unclear. B.Soft.

C.Incomplete. D.Rough.

4.What is the main idea of the text?

A.Volunteers donate their voices to VocaliD.

B.Vocalic is devoted to building a voicebank.

C.The Human Voicebank wins fame among people with speech.

D.The Human Voicebank helps people with speech problems.

    In beautiful rural Montana lies the town of Livingston. Around half the students in the Livingston School District qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, according to local educator Rachael Jones, known as “Farmer Jones”. She is the director of the Livingston Farm to School program, which uses the district’s two greenhouses and four gardens to grow food that supplements (补充) school meals while offering kids hands-on lessons. Jones said, “In many places around the country, if you can t pay for your school meal, you don’t eat. Well, here, we don’t turn anyone away.”

The town’s school district and community members started the program eight years ago. It was part of the National Farm to School Network, which aims to increase access to local food and nutrition education across the country. Jones, who attended public school in Livingston as a kid, has headed up the local program since 2014. Farm to School enriches curriculums in all of the schools through garden lessons, cafeteria and kitchen lessons, and classroom lessons.

Research has shown that healthy school meals can better academic performance, including improved test scores. Though the Farm to School program is not aimed only at lower-income students, Jones said, “Such kids are more likely to eat lunch provided by the school.” Eventually she wants to get healthy, affordable meals on the plate of every child in Livingston.

It is important for kids to understand where their food comes from. That’s a life-changing experience for them. Jones said, “When I grew up a big force in my life was my grandma Ethel. She taught me from a really early age the value of growing my own food. I worked in her gardens with her and somehow, through all of those experiences—eating her tomatoes and canning pickles (泡菜) with her—it really built up my trust and knowledge in food systems. I’m so thankful to her!”

1.Who is “Farmer Jones” according to the text?

A.A local farmer. B.A community volunteer.

C.A teacher in a local school. D.a student in a local school

2.Why is the Livingston Farm to School program set?

A.To offer students food and lessons.

B.To help local farmers make a living.

C.To provide part-time jobs for students.

D.To improve local environmental protection.

3.What can we know from Paragraph 3?

A.The program was short of money.

B.Students were facing health problem.

C.The program offered all students free meals.

D.Students’ study performance progresses due to healthy meals.

4.What makes Jones so confident in food system?

A.Her grandma’s suggestions. B.Her childhood experiences.

C.Her college education. D.Her healthy lifestyles.

At Beaver Creek, The Extraordinary Awaits You

Are no two snowflakes alike? The snowflakes we see in the winter are most likely completely unique from one other.

Beaver Creek is a great place to experience the beauty of the snow, with programs for everyone—from children, teens, and women-only lessons to small groups and private-guided experiences.

First Track, from Beaver Creek Reserve, lets you be the first on the mountain, with an adventure that begins at 7:30 a.m. when you are met by ski professionals and taken on a private, guided tour—before the mountain is open to the public. Once you have skied, you are treated to a delicious breakfast at Allie’s Cabin.

If you are looking for a higher level of comfort there is the White Carpet Club, from Beaver Creek Reserve. Located in the heart of Beaver Creek Village, it maximizes your time on the mountain by streamlining your access to it. At the club, there are private lockers and boot dryers, along with preferred self-parking and a slope-side ski waiter. A receptionist can assist with lift tickets, pass purchases, dinner reservations, and activity recommendations.

Of course, there is more to explore during the winter in Beaver Creek as well. There is ice skating, snowshoeing, shopping, and spas—you name it, Beaver Creek has it. It is the perfect place to take advantage of the snow and be in the moment, in the mountains, together.

The extraordinary is a rare combination of one-of-a-kind experiences designed to be shared with service that exceeds expectation. The extraordinary brings you closer to one another and offers a special place to belong together. Belong in The Extraordinary.

1.First Track can offer visitors ________.

A.an early visit B.an ice skating show

C.a tasty lunch D.a free skiing lesson

2.What is the White Carpet Club special for?

A.Skillful trainers. B.Quiet living experience.

C.Thoughtful service. D.Good views over the mountain.

3.The passage is written to ________.

A.attract visitors B.compare different programs

C.appeal for sports D.introduce training courses

假设你是红星中学高三学生李华，你的英国朋友Jim在给你的邮件中提到他暑假将来北京参加“外国人唱中国歌大赛”，希望你为他推荐一首中文歌曲。请给他回邮件，内容包括：

1.推荐曲目；

2.推荐理由；

3.你的祝愿。

注意：1.词数不少于100；

2.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Jim,

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours，

Li Hua

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。

Last week, I attended a lecture by a teacher in his thirty. He was energetic and confidence. He spoke very fast and I could understand that he said. He mainly focused on how to learn the English well. In addition, he showed us how to write neatly, letter by letter. He kept telling us, "Slow down!" "Trusting yourself!" "Write carefully!" To be honest, I never thought much about writing until today, when my heart touched. At the end of the lecture, all the people present break into cheers. The lecture was so interesting that I benefited a lot from them.

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。

Nowadays 5G is very popular among customers，but China is looking past 5G and intending1.(build)a 6G network. China is starting research into 6G，2.(make) it one of the first countries to do so. The actual development of 6G wilt3. (official) begin in 2020，but the commercial use will have to wait.

The 4. (arrive)of 5G has attracted a lot of people. It not only brings fast mobile Internet，but also5. (enable)us to connect with machines. So 6.is 6G supposed to bring，especially for ordinary people? For one thing，7. will make mobile Internet work at a speed of 1 TB per second，which means you can download around 100 films  8. less than one second. For another，6G will connect our devices 9.(efficiently) than 5G，which makes Internet coverage much wider.

Of course，there is a long way to go yet，10.I believe tomorrow’s Internet is in our hands. Our life in the future will be wonderful and fantastic.

    I recently did a time diary project looking at 1,001 days in the lives of extremely busy women. They had ____ jobs, sometimes their own businesses, kids to care for and maybe parents to care for. I had them record their ______ for a week so I could ______ how much they worked and slept, and I ______ them about their strategies (策略) for my book.

One of the ______ whose time log (时间记录) I studied goes out on a Wednesday night for something. She comes home to find that her water heater has ______, and there is now water all over her basement. If you’ve ever had anything like this ______ to you, you know it is a hugely ______ and frightening mess (杂乱). So she’s cleaning up the basement that night, next day she’s got repairmen coming in, the day after that, a professional cleaning team ______ the ruined carpet. All this is being ______ on her time log. All this takes seven hours of her week. Seven hours. That’s like finding a(n) ______ hour in the day.

______, I’m sure if you had asked her at the ______ of the week, “Could you find seven hours to train for a triathlon (铁人三项)?” “Could you find seven hours to advise seven worthy people?” I’m sure she would have said what most of us would’ve said, which is, “No, can’t you see how ______ I am?” Yet when she had to find seven hours because there was water all over her ______, she found seven hours.

What this shows us is that time is ______ elastic (有弹性的). We cannot ______ more time, but time will stretch to fit in ______ we choose to put into it.

It’s about looking at the whole of our time and seeing when we can do what we want to do. I truly ______ this. There is time. Even if we are busy, we have time for what matters. And when we ______ what matters, we can build the lives we want in the time we’ve got.

1.A.boring B.frustrating C.interesting D.challenging

2.A.plan B.work C.time D.exercise

3.A.work on B.look for C.settle down D.add up

4.A.explained B.expressed C.interviewed D.informed

5.A.women B.students C.wives D.children

6.A.dropped B.disappeared C.broken D.burned

7.A.happen B.apply C.show D.promise

8.A.exciting B.damaging C.puzzling D.amazing

9.A.taking up B.dealing with C.making up D.checking on

10.A.recorded B.proved C.followed D.replied

11.A.exact B.separate C.loose D.extra

12.A.Therefore B.Moreover C.However D.Otherwise

13.A.start B.middle C.end D.stop

14.A.busy B.hard C.crazy D.serious

15.A.car B.basement C.shop D.office

16.A.freely B.poorly C.highly D.simply

17.A.keep B.make C.change D.save

18.A.which B.where C.how D.what

19.A.encourage B.admire C.praise D.believe

20.A.focus on B.believe in C.take in D.care for

    Earthquake can strike without warning. But many injuries and deaths from this kind of natural disaster can be prevented if people follow these safety tips.

If you’re inside a building, stay there! One of the most dangerous things to do in an earthquake is to try to leave a building. 1.Drop to the ground. Get under an object that is not easily damaged. Hold on to it until the shaking stops. You can also get to a comer formed by two walls with your arms over your hand. If you’re in bed when the quake hits, stay there and protect your head with a pillow.

2.Don’t take shelter under a tree, streetlights, electric poles or tall buildings. If you are driving, stop as quickly as possible and stay away from overpasses, buildings, bridges or anything else that might fall or collapse beneath you. 3.

If you are trapped in ruins, cover your mouth with a handkerchief or a piece of clothing. Use your cell phone to call for help if possible. Don’t shout. 4.Tap on a pipe or the wall so rescuers can find you.

Be prepared for aftershocks. 5.However, sometimes they even happen months later. Therefore, if you are not in a safe position after the first shock, you should move quickly but carefully to a safer place.

A. Don’t move about or kick up dust.

B. If you’re outside, go to an open space.

C. Shouting can cause you to breathe in dust.

D. Don’t park your car under a tree or any tall object.

E. Take a good hold of your cell phone in the building.

F. They can happen in the first hours after the earthquake.

G. Most injuries happen when people inside buildings try to go out.

    A while back I caught a news report on something called ―couch surfing and the network of trusting souls who make this phenomenon possible. They offer to put up travelers free of charge and help them on their ways. At first, it sounded unbelievable. I mean, inviting strangers into one’s home for one or two nights? Give me a break.

However, I was intrigued. I decided to find it out. The only way to truly learn about this phenomenon was to dive in. So I planned a trip to Finland, a country I’ve always wanted to explore. I would couch surf at every stop there.

If ever any anxiety existed when stepping into the unknown, it disappeared when my first host met me at the train station. Ari looked like my idea of a typical Finn: tall and blue-eyed. Finns were also supposed to be famously reserved (寡言少语的). Ari was anything but. He was a live wire, giving me a warm welcome and walking with me to his apartment, where he showed me the sleeper sofa, served me tea, and engaged me in warm conversations. He also handed me a key to come and go as I pleased.

If this was what couch surfing was all about—trust and friendship—then I had gotten off to a good start. As I boarded my next train to continue my journey, I began to think about this couch-surfing idea. What encouraged these people to open their homes to strangers? I concluded that there was a desire to lend a hand to like-minded folks who might enrich their own lives.

Seven cities in 14 days. Seven hosts. Seven new friends. If couch surfing taught me anything, it’s this: Most people are good and generous. Where will couch surfing take me next? Who knows? But I can’t wait to find out.

1.Which of the following best explains the underlined word in the second paragraph?

A.relaxed. B.bored.

C.interested. D.pleased.

2.What can we know about Ari?

A.He was reserved like most Finns.

B.He talked less but he was friendly.

C.He treated the author as a friend.

D.He saw off the author at the train station.

3.Why did people offer couch surfing to strangers?

A.To take an adventure with strangers.

B.To exchange houses for a short time.

C.To learn more about others’ family lives.

D.To enrich their own lives by helping others.

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A.Travel on Trust and Couches

B.A Free Travel in Finland

C.Experiences in Strangers’ Houses

D.A Plan for Couch Surfing

    The sun is going to expand into the orbit of Mercury (水星) according to scientific calculations, which will result in the entire Earth catching fire, destroying all life. In order to survive, the United Earth Government prepares 10,000 giant engines on Earth to drive it away from its original orbit. The whole trip is expected to last 2,500 years.

This imaginative tale is at the heart of the science-fiction movie The Wandering Earth. The original novel was written by Liu Cixin, one of China’s most outstanding science-fiction writers and a prize winner of the Hugo Award in 2015 for his novel The Three-Body Problem.

Perhaps thanks to Liu’s fame, as well as the huge marketing efforts of the movie team, The Wandering Earth posted ticket sales of 670 million yuan when it was shown on the first day. More importantly, The Wandering Earth is the first “made-in-China” science-fiction movie on the big screen, as the director, Guo Fan, is also Chinese.

As a fan of Liu, having read almost all of his science-fiction books, I should mention the movie follows a rather different form from his novel. Actually, it only borrows from the novel the idea of the Earth having to escape the solar system. That’s just the point. It means Chinese movie production teams have grown enough to develop new ideas on the creative basis of science-fiction writers, while the writers are willing to work together with movie productions so that the film results in the best possible performance.

Liu may be a highly regarded science-fiction writer in China, but he is not the only one. There are many writers with rich imaginations, and their works can be adapted into movies, too. Someone has predicted that 2019 will mark the starting year of success for Chinese science-fiction movies. Only time will tell whether that prediction will come true. But if more professional movie teams and creative writers could work together, we can certainly expect more success for the domestic (国内的) science-fiction movie industry.

1.Why does the Earth have to escape from its original orbit in the story?

A.Because the sun is about to hit the Earth.

B.Because its original orbit will be occupied by Mercury.

C.Because the giant engines’ strong power will drive it away.

D.Because it has to avoid being destroyed by the coming disaster.

2.What can we learn about the movie from the passage?

A.It is adapted from a science-fiction novel.

B.Its author was once awarded for The Wandering Earth.

C.It achieved huge success mainly because of its author’s fame.

D.Its director Guo Fan is also a famous science-fiction writer in China.

3.What does the underlined word “it” in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A.The unexpected success of the movie.

B.The great success of the original novel.

C.The creative adaptation from the novel.

D.The imaginative idea from the novel.

4.What does the author think of the future of Chinese science-fiction movies?

A.There is a long way to go.

B.They will definitely success.

C.They have great potential.

D.It cannot be predicted.

Surviving Hurricane Sandy (飓风桑迪)

Natalie Doan, 14, has always felt lucky to live in Rockaway, New York. Living just a few blocks from the beach, Natalie can see the ocean and hear the wave from her house. “It’s the ocean that makes Rockaway so special,” she says.

On October 29, 2012, that ocean turned fierce. That night, Hurricane Sandy attacked the East Coast, and Rockaway was hit especially hard. Fortunately, Natalie’s family escaped to Brooklyn shortly before the city’s bridge closed.

When they returned to Rockaway the next day, they found their neighborhood in ruins. Many of Natalie’s friends had lost their homes and were living far away. All around her, people were suffering, especially the elderly. Natalie’s school was so damaged that she had to temporarily attend a school in Brooklyn.

In the following few days, the men and women helping Rockaway recover inspired Natalie. Volunteers came with carloads of donated clothing and toys. Neighbors devoted their spare time to helping others rebuild. Teenagers climbed dozens of flights of stairs to deliver water and food to elderly people trapped in powerless high-rise buildings.

“My mom tells me that I can’t control what happens to me,” Natalie says. “but I can always choose how I deal with it.”

Natalie’s choice was to help.

She created a website page matching survivors in need with donors who wanted to help. Natalie posted introduction about a boy named Patrick, who lost his baseball card collecting when his house burned down. Within days, Patrick’s collection was replaced.

In the coming months, her website page helped lots of kids: Christopher, who received a new basketball; Charlie, who got a new keyboard. Natalie also worked with other organizations to bring much-need supplies to Rockaway. Her efforts made her a famous person. Last April, she was invited to the White House and honored as a Hurricane Sandy Champion of Change.

Today, the scars (创痕) of destruction are still seen in Rockaway, but hope is in the air. The streets are clear, and many homes have been rebuilt. “I can’t imagine living anywhere but Rockaway,” Natalie declares. “My neighborhood will be back, even stronger than before.”

1.When Natalie returned to Rockaway after the hurricane, she found ______.

A. some friends had lost their lives.

B. her neighborhood was destroyed.

C. her school had moved to Brooklyn.

D. the elderly were free from suffering.

2.According to paragraph 4, who inspired Natalie most?

A. The people helping Rockaway rebuild.

B. The people trapped in high-rise building.

C. The volunteers donating money to survivors.

D. Local teenagers bringing clothing to elderly people.

3.How did Natalie help the survivors?

A. She gave her toys to the kids.

B. She took care of younger children.

C. She called on the White House to help.

D. She built an information sharing platform.

4.What does the story intend to tell us?

A. Little people can make a big difference.

B. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

C. East or West, home is best.

D. Technology is power.

    Everyday Food

by Martha Stewart

No matter how busy you are, at the end of the day you want meals that are easy to prepare. And you want lots of choices and variations. You'll find all of that in this book: 250 simple recipes for delicious meals that bring freshness and nutrition.

Paperback, published by Random House, $16.79

Zeroes

By Scott Westerfeld, Margo Lanagan, Deborah Biancotti

The New York Times best-selling author Scott Westerfeld teams up with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti in the book about six teenagers with amazing abilities. These teenagers have powers that set them apart. They can do things ordinary people can’t.

Paperback, published by Simon & Schuster, $12.99

Mighty Jack

By Ben Hatke

Jack dislikes summer. But he’s got a good reason: summer is when his single mom takes a second job and leaves him at home to watch his sister, Maddy. It's lots of responsibility, and it's boring, too, because Maddy doesn't talk. But one day, at the market, Maddy does talk—to tell Jack to trade their mom's car for a box of mysterious seeds. It's the best mistake Jack has ever made.

Hardcover, published by First Second, $14.15

Only Daughter

By Anna Snoekstra

She’s caught stealing. She’s homeless and on the run. But she happens to look the same as a girl who went missing a decade ago, Rebecca Winter. She takes Rebecca’s identity, using it as a way out. Little does she know her new life as Rebecca is itself a prison and it looks like a killer might be after her.

Kindle edition, published by Harlequin Enterprises, $8.88

1.Who wrote a book to help you cook a meal?

A.Martha Stewart.

B.Anna Snoekstra.

C.Ben Hatke.

D.Scott Westerfeld.

2.How much should readers pay for a story about a boy’s amazing experience?

A.$8.88.

B.$12. 99.

C.$14. 15.

D.$16. 79.

3.What do we know about Only Daughter?

A.Its heroine enjoys her life on the run.

B.Its heroine lives with a false identity

C.It provides different kinds of editions.

D.It is written by Harlequin Enterprises.