Nice Places in America

The Doaks’ House in Waterford, Ohio

In the small town of Waterford, Ohio, one local household stands out. One fall Saturday every other year or so, Roger and Shirley Doak open their doors for family, friends and strangers. Since the 1960s, they’ve turned a day devoted to making apple butter into an all-day event. They start the fire at dawn, then take turns stirring it, and have a buffet until sunset. By the end of the day, they’ve created apple butter together.

Pflugerville High School, Texas

In a school of about 2,300 people, students love each other, regardless of race or ability. Perhaps the school spirit comes from events like Pay It Forward Day, which rewards students for kindness or the Coats for Kids Drive, a competition challenging schools to donate the most coats-which Pflugerville has won for the past six years.

Oriole Park in Baltimore, Maryland

Sure, Oriole Park in Baltimore, Maryland, is a fun place to watch a baseball game with a family. But this stadium goes beyond rooting for the home team; it also roots for acts of kindness. During weekend games, one of the nicest students to catch our eye was a middle school boy named Thomas Moore who grew his hair long enough to donate it to children with cancer.

Rock Hall, Maryland

The sign to Rock Hall, Maryland, should be your first mark that you’ll be welcomed. It shows off the town’s motto, “Nice People Live Here.” And they aren’t just empty words. Take a walk around the town and you’ll see so many kind waves that strangers must think they’ve been mistaken for someone else.

1. What can you do when you attend the event in the town of Waterford, Ohio?

A．Donate clothes to strangers.	B．Make your favourite apple juice.
C．Experience the friendly school life.	D．Watch local people making apple butter.

2. What can we learn about the people in Rock Hall, Maryland?

A．They are easily mistaken in remembering people.	B．They often ignore strangers.
C．They are friendly.	D．They like walking around the town with strangers.

3. Which of the following is the most suitable place to enjoy a sports game?

A．Oriole Park in Baltimore, Maryland.	B．Pflugerville High School, Texas.
C．The Doaks’ House in Waterford, Ohio.	D．Rock Hall, Maryland.

In many ways, Alma Deutscher is like other 11-year-olds. She loves to climb trees, dance, read, and draw. But Alma, who lives in Dorking, England, has made one very special achievement. She has composed a full opera and brought it to the stage. Her opera, a retelling of Cinderella (灰姑娘), premiered (首次演出) in December 2016, in Vienna, Austria.

“I’ve loved Cinderella since I was 3,” Alma said. But she felt the story needed an improvement. “I didn’t like the thing about the shoe,” she says. “Why should the prince find her because of her feet?”

In Alma’s version (版本), Cinderella is a composer. She creates a melody (旋律) that she sings to the prince before fleeing the ball. “He remembers the beginning but not how it went on,” Alma says. The prince realizes that only Cinderella would know how the melody continues. He uses that knowledge to find her.

Alma began writing the opera when she was 8. It premiered on December 29, 2016, and the audience stood up and cheered. Alma played the piano and violin and performed in the show. “It was something that was completely inside my head, in my imagination, and then it came to life,” Alma says.

Alma says she is sure that music will remain a major part of her life. “I have lots of things that I want to compose,” she says. “The first one is a piano concerto (协奏曲). Then I’m writing a novel, and I want to write a movie based on it, and the music for that.”

She also has advice for kids who want to achieve their big dreams. “It’s a lot of work to reach a high level,” Alma says. “But if you love what you are doing, it doesn’t feel like hard work. Don’t let anyone stop you from doing it.”

4. What does the author mostly want to tell us about Alma Deutscher in Paragraph 1?

A．She is a cute girl.	B．She lives in Vienna Austria.
C．She has a special music talent.	D．She is always ready to help others.

5. What can we learn from Alma’s version of Cinderella?

A．The prince knows how the melody continues.

B．The prince finds Cinderella because of a melody.

C．The prince finds Cinderella because of her shoes.

D．The prince sings a melody to Cinderella before her fleeing the ball.

6. How was the performance of Alma’s Opera Cinderella?

A．It was a great success.	B．It disappointed the audience.
C．It set a good example for other kids.	D．It was something in Alma’s imagination.

7. What can we learn from Alma’s advice to other kids in the last paragraph?

A．Knowledge is power.	B．A good beginning is half done.
C．Failure is the mother of success.	D．Nothing is difficult if you’re enthusiastic.

The earliest known copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa—thought to have been painted at the same time as the original masterpiece—has been discovered at the Prado Museum in Madrid, Spain. The work offers art-lovers an attractive clue to what the model for the world’s most famous painting really looked like. Controllers of the museum found the picture hidden beneath layers of paints during restoration work on a picture initially thought to have been a later replica(exact copy) of the Mona Lisa.

The restored version shows the same woman that Leonardo depicted (描画), against a landscape similar to that shown in the background of the original, which now hangs in the Louvre in Paris. And while the features of Leonardo’s Mona Lisa have been dulled by centuries of dirt and layers of cracked paints—which are unlikely ever to be removed—in the recently-rediscovered copy, she appears fresher-faced and younger than her better-known “twin”.

News of the find was revealed at a meeting at London’s National Gallery, linked to its “Leonardo da Vinci: Painter at the Court of Milan” exhibition. “This sensational (轰动的) find will transform our understanding of the world’s most famous picture,” the Art Newspaper reported, adding that the clues found on the Madrid version suggest that the original and the copy were begun at the same time and painted next to each other, as the work went on.

Miguel Falomir, manager of Italian painting at the Prado, told reporters that expert analysis suggested a strong link between Leonardo and the artist who painted the copy. “The painting was done in the painter’s own workshop,” he said. “It is absolutely consistent with Leonardo’s work, but Leonardo didn’t actually do any work on it himself.”

8. Which of the following is TRUE about the new version of the Mona Lisa?

A．It was a restored version by Leonardo.

B．It was painted much later than the original version.

C．It is better preserved than the original one.

D．It has been dulled by layers of cracked paints.

9. We can learn from the third paragraph that ________.

A．the new version of the Mona Lisa went on display at a meeting.

B．there would be two versions of the Mona Lisa at the exhibition.

C．Leonardo was made to paint with another painter meanwhile.

D．the new finding affects the understanding of the original version.

10. What can we infer from the text?

A．The artist painted the copy in his home.

B．The artist who painted the copy must have been Leonardo’s student.

C．The artist finished painting the copy under Leonardo’s guidance.

D．The artist who painted the copy had close relation with Leonardo.

11. What is the main idea of the text?

A．The Prado Museum has discovered the earliest copy of the Mona Lisa.

B．The Prado Museum restored the earliest copy of the Mona Lisa.

C．The Prado Museum displayed the recently-rediscovered copy of the Mona Lisa in Spain.

D．The Prado Museum offers art-lovers a better understanding of Leonardo.

Even though they're not the most exciting things in the world, plants have attracted us ever since the days of early humans. They may not do any tricks or greet us when we come home at night like a dog would, but that doesn't mean they're any less interesting than animals.

However, just when we thought we knew everything we could about them, a recent study found that plants may have a secret ability that has gone unnoticed all this time.

According to the study by Australian biologist Monica Gagliano, published in the journal Oecologia, plants may be able to "hear” sounds . To come to this conclusion, Gagliano and her team planted pea seedlings （幼苗）in a pair of different Y-shaped pots with two arms. The first pot's arms led to fresh water, while the other's led to either dry soil or a sealed （密封的）plastic tube containing flowing water. Naturally, the first pot's seedlings grew toward the water. What's surprising, however, is that the second pot's seedlings grew toward the sealed water supply but not the soil.

"They just knew the water was there even if the only thing to discover was the sound of it flowing inside the pipe, ” Gagliano told Scientific American . She believes that plants are able to use their leaves to discover sound waves, which make tiny vibrations （振动）as they're produced. This could explain why so many people believe that singing or playing music to their plants helps them grow. “ I had a plant that I used to wash the leaves of once a week and sing to," plant lover Heather Goodall told BBC News. "It grew from being about 2 feet tall to 7 feet tall in just a couple of years."

So, does this mean we should start treating our plants like pets? Not necessarily, although perhaps it does mean we should give them more respect. "I would like to see plants accepted more as the amazing and interesting living beings, and less as just a source of human nutrition," Fatima Cvrckova, a scientist at Charles University in the Czech Republic, told BBC News.

12. What did Gagliano find in their study?

A．Plants can recognize the sound of water.

B．Sound can change the direction plants grow toward.

C．Plants can tell the difference between various sounds.

D．Different plants can discover sounds in different ways.

13. What do plants use to hear sound according to Gagliano?

A．Their roots	B．Their flowers
C．Their fruits	D．Their leaves

14. Why does the author mention Heather Goodall's example?

A．To show a different way of growing plants.

B．To inspire people to sing to their plants often.

C．To prove that music plays a role in plant growth.

D．To stress the importance of treating plants like pets.

15. What would Cvrckova probably agree with?

A．Plants are just a source of human nutrition.

B．There is still a lot we do not know about plants.

C．Plants are unbelievable and deserve more respect.

D．Most people do not care enough about their plants.

A stolen baby goat was returned home to its community garden in Baltimore late Tuesday night.

Ed was reported _______ from the Filbert Street Garden on Monday night. His caretakers _______ in a Facebook post that two teenagers tore through a fence, _______ a lock and got into a barn (谷仓) to steal the animal. The animal _______ just 20 pounds (9 kilograms) and depends on its mother’s _______ to survive.

“We’re not _______ whether they are going to sell him or just kill him,” the Filbert Street Garden post said. “The community begs whoever did this to please just _______ return Ed. He is not _______ enough to live away from his mother yet and could die.”

The garden has since _______ a large number of photos of Ed. Many people ________ attention to it and hoped that it would be back ________ and sound. Security video obtained by the police ________ to show someone walking down the street with the goat in a suitcase as the animal ________.

To everyone’s surprise, the poor little ________ was returned by someone unknown before 10 pm on Tuesday. What’s more, it was really unharmed. In an update Tuesday, the garden ________ Ed’s safe return and ________ police for their help. The people who are knowing the little goat are happy with its ________ and safety. One man in the community said, “It is so ________ to see the little goat together with its mom. Actually, it’s a(n) ________ scene to return it to its dear ________ and let it live in this new world with us.”

21.

A．missing

B．escaping

C．losing

D．raising

22.

A．witnessed

B．kept

C．wrote

D．settled

23.

A．broke

B．found

C．fixed

D．reached

24.

A．feels

B．weighs

C．seems

D．hopes

25.

A．food

B．vegetable

C．fruit

D．milk

26.

A．concerned

B．frightened

C．sure

D．guilty

27.

A．sharply

B．quietly

C．recently

D．frequently

28.

A．old

B．kind

C．smart

D．smooth

29.

A．taken

B．owned

C．posted

D．required

30.

A．exchanged

B．paid

C．cut

D．admitted

31.

A．special

B．short

C．hungry

D．safe

32.

A．appeared

B．meant

C．led

D．planned

33.

A．gave out

B．cried out

C．worked out

D．worn out

34.

A．dog

B．pig

C．goat

D．parrot

35.

A．experienced

B．insisted

C．signed

D．celebrated

36.

A．phoned

B．thanked

C．rewarded

D．comforted

37.

A．return

B．recovery

C．appearance

D．choice

38.

A．annoyed

B．believable

C．worried

D．pleased

39.

A．confusing

B．amusing

C．touching

D．boring

40.

A．dad

B．sister

C．bother

D．mom

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。

Starting a wildlife conservation center is a necessary     41     important job, but it hardly brings money to its founder and so it is for Jane Thomas. She spent several years     42     (build) Motley Zoo, devoted to wildlife     43     (protect) in Redmond, Washington, but all money she made was spent straight back on the zoo. She was determined     44     (continue) to do her work, even though there was little money to reward her.

But things changed this year. “As crazy as it sounded, because of my efforts, I received a secret donation: $9,000,” Thomas said. She decided to use the money     45     was donated by a stranger this year to rescue more animals. She advertised the animal rescue on the street and received much support from     46     public.

Thomas said, “Ever since I advertised the animal rescue on the street, I     47     (attract) many people. Now when I walk on the street, many     48     (passer-by) wave and even shout to me ‘I adopted (收养)my dog from you!’ I feel     49     (shock) that people treat me     50     (nice) than ever.”

51. 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。

We have a small piece of land to grow vegetables, that are growing better than ever. Today, my mother picked a lot of vegetables and asked me to send any to one of her colleagues, whom I call Auntie. She was very happily. She liked the fresh vegetables very much and said thank to me. She also sent his regards to my mother.

After supper, I was about to doing my homework when I heard a knock at the door. When I open the door, I saw Auntie standing outside with many gifts are in her hands. I knew immediately that she came thank us for the vegetables. What a thoughtful or kind woman!

52. 假如你是李华，你的美国朋友 John 写信想询问你的寒假规划。请你用英文写一封回信，介绍你的假期安排。
注意：1 词数 80 左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear John,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours，

Li Hua