Living on the Florida Emerald Coast, people view a hurricane as a common thing. So it is not unusual for a family to have several full gas cans and bottled water stored in their houses all summer.
Though unwilling to evacuate from a hurricane, on September 15,my family was forced to leave our home for my grandfather's house several miles away. We spent the early part of that evening watching the hurricane draw closer on the Weather Channel. Around nine o'clock, a loud sound shook the house, turned over the roof and carried it off. Soon came an indoor rainstorm.
Realizing the damage, my grandfather began to be afraid. The storm had started, but he still ran out into the heavy rain and wind to see how much of the roof was left. We got him back inside. I had never seen him so scared. Mom finally asked him to lie down in his room.
The leak had progressed rapidly. It soon became a race against time to protect what was saved. Some people may think it necessary to save material things, but I hoped to save those items with emotional value, such as the photos. I still feared the storm, but I more feared the influence it brought.
The next morning, it started to clear up. Thankfully, my family weathered the storm, though the same could not be said for the house. Only the wooden beams remained, but inside many of his things were safe. My mom and I had worked tirelessly through the night.
It was late, but we were still unwilling to go to bed. We discussed the rebuilding of the house. Under the beautiful sky, we suggested looking after my grandfather more often in the future. After this disaster, I realized the truth that the hurricane itself was not so terrible if we loved each other.
1. Why do the people store full gas cans and bottled water?| A．To save much money. | B．To watch a hurricane easily. |
| C．To protect their houses well. | D．To be prepared for hurricanes. |
| A．Frightened. | B．Surprised. | C．Calm. | D．Angry. |
| A．Prepared well for. | B．Waited patiently for. |
| C．Came safely through. | D．Suffered seriously from. |
| A．Family love is powerful. | B．Take things as they come. |
| C．Good health is over wealth. | D．Lost time is never found again. |
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【推荐1】It’s been 10 years since Yasuo Takamatsu lost his wife Yuko when a tsunami(海啸)hit the town of Onagawa, but he continues to search for her every weekend.
On the day when Yuko disappeared, in 2011, Yasuo Takamatsu received the last text message from her. It read “Are you OK? I’m coming home.”
Since then, he has been looking for her and won’t stop until he finds her. “I’m sure she is on the way home. She has never gone back on her words,” Yasuo insists.
In the beginning, he searched for Yuko on land, starting at the bank where she was last seen，then along the beaches of Onagawa，in nearby forests and mountains.
Two years after her disappearance, Yasuo registered at a local diving school to take diving lessons, so he could start searching for her in the sea. He has been going on weekly dives for the past seven and a half years, racking up almost 500 underwater searches.
Yasuo Takamatsu has been aided in his underwater searches by Masayoshi Takahashi, the diving instructor who taught him to dive. He has been keeping track of Yasuo’s searches, recording what areas he has combed, where the dead bodies might gather on the seabed, etc.
Apart from his own weekly dives, the 64-year-old also joins local authorities in underwater searches for the 2,500 people who remain lost following the 2011 tsunami. In his searches， Takamatsu has found all sorts of things belonging to the missing persons，but nothing helps him find his wife. He refuses to give up, though.
1. What kept Yasuo searching for his wife for 10 years?| A．The belief that she is still alive. | B．Anew text from his wife. |
| C．Takahashi’s selfless assistance. | D．The latest survivors he found. |
| A．Winning. | B．Forgetting. | C．Totalling. | D．Including. |
| A．To map out the dead bodies. | B．To measure the training effect. |
| C．To test the diving equipment. | D．To avoid searching the same areas. |
| A．Ambitious and confident. | B．Selfless and hardworking. |
| C．Humorous and considerate. | D．Determined and warm-hearted. |
【推荐2】It’s not easy being a teenager —— nor is it easy being the parent of a teenager. You can make your child feel angry, hurt or misunderstood by what you say without realizing it yourself. It is important to give your child the space he needs to grow while gently letting him know that you’ll still be there for him when he needs you.
Expect a lot from your child, just not everything. Except for health and safety problems, such as drug use or careless driving, consider everything else open to discussion. If your child is unwilling to discuss something, don’t insist he tell you what’s on his mind. The more you insist, the more likely that he’ll clam up. Instead，let him attempt to solve things by himself. At the same time，remind him that you’re always there for him if he should seek advice or help. Show respect for your teenager’s privacy. Never read his mail or listen in on personal conversations.
Teach your teenager that the family phone is for the whole family. If your child talks on the family’s telephone for too long, tell him he can talk for l5 minutes, but then he must stay off the phone for at least all equal period of time. This not only frees up the line so that other family members can make and receive calls, but teaches your teenager moderation(节制).Or if you are open to the idea, allow your teenager his own phone that he pays for with his own pocket money or a part-time job.
1. The main purpose of the text is to tell parents ________ .| A．how to get along with a teenager | B．how to help a teenager grow up |
| C．how to understand a teenager | D．how to respect a teenager |
| A．refuse to talk | B．show respect |
| C．become excited | D．seek help |
| A．to pay for his own telephone | B．to use the phone in a sensible way |
| C．to share the phone with friends | D．to answer the phone quickly |
| A．Not allow him to learn driving or take drugs. |
| B．Let him have his own telephone. |
| C．Give him advice only when necessary. |
| D．Not talk about personal things with him. |
【推荐3】It was the day after Christmas 33 years ago. My wife gave birth to our first child. We were full of appreciation to have Joseph John Mazzella II , also called JJ, sleeping peacefully in the cradle(摇篮)next to our bed.
We had been on the road showing off our little baby to all of the grandparents and great—grandparents. It had been a busy Christmas and hard on my wife who was still recovering from her operation. Now we were back in our tiny flat trying to get a few extra hours of sleep before starting the day.
Just then I heard JJ stirring in his cradle. I leaned over and picked him up before he started to cry and then carefully stole out into the living room so that my wife could keep sleeping. I picked up a bottle and sat in our rocking chair with JJ in my arms. I rocked quietly and fed him in the living room while he looked up at me with his loving eyes. I spoke softly to him but also felt a little nervous and scared as I watched him. How was I going to take care of him? I was a new father and had no idea what the future had in store for us. I rocked and rocked. But luckily, I had so many elders to help me.
After a few minutes I saw the sun slowly rising in the sky outside my window. The bright light was shining down from the heavens making the freshly fallen snow shine with beauty that touched my soul. As I watched it, my fear escaped and I felt such a sense of peace, harmony, love and joy. The Christmas spirit had entered my heart and I smiled. I knew then that whatever the future would hold, it would be smooth as long as I kept love in my heart. New life is precious and I believed my child would be grateful, too and bring us new sunshine in the future.
1. How did the couple feel about the birth of JJ?| A．Appreciative. | B．Calm. | C．Helpless. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．To look for a bottle. |
| B．To appreciate the sun. |
| C．To make him sleep again. |
| D．To avoid disturbing his wife. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Uncertain. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．The family's difficulty. |
| B．The mother's pain and fear. |
| C．The baby's life experiences. |
| D．The father's love and responsibility. |
【推荐1】The start of the U.S. Atlantic hurricane season is just over two weeks away and forecasters are expecting particularly high activity this year. With warmer than usual conditions expected in the North Atlantic this summer, meteorologists have predicted that the season could produce eight or more hurricanes.
While forecasters cannot predict how many hurricanes — if any — will make landfall, the potential for dangerous storms to strike the southern and eastern coasts brings an additional problem for authorities already struggling with the COVID-19.
Experts say that the COVID-19 is affecting the capabilities of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other organizations involved in responding to natural disasters.
Retired U.S. Army Lieutenant General Jeffrey Talley, who now leads global efforts on disaster management at IBM’s Center for the Business of Government, said that with FEMA and other authorities engaged with responding to the COVID-19, resources will be limited if a hurricane strikes.
“When we look at a disaster... I think of it in terms of how we prepare for, respond to and recover from those types of events,” Talley said. “Right now we’re in the middle of the response of COVID-19. None of us are really sure how long it’s going to last and how the response to disasters is going to be different, say, two months from now, six months from now, so on and so forth,” he said.
According to Talley, the COVID-19 could complicate the response to a hurricane by interrupting the flow of emergency supplies to areas where they are urgently needed at crucial moments.
Social distancing and stay-at-home orders will also force authorities along the south and east coast to rethink how they manage people who must leave their homes in the event of a disaster. While many states are already lifting some lockdown restrictions, social distancing will still be important for many months to come.
1. When will the first hurricane possibly arrive in US this summer?| A．In about eight days. | B．In about six months. |
| C．In about two months. | D．In more than two weeks. |
| A．More people will leave home to fight against a hurricane. |
| B．Rescue materials might not reach disaster areas sometimes. |
| C．Lockdown can greatly reduce damage and injury. |
| D．The pandemic makes it harder to predict hurricanes. |
| A．People throughout the country no longer need to stay at home. |
| B．The state governments are confident about tackling hurricanes. |
| C．Authorities along the coasts will stick to the former orders. |
| D．It is necessary to keep social distance in the coming months. |
| A．More Destructive Hurricanes to Be Expected. | B．More Difficult to Forecast Hurricanes Coming. |
| C．COVID-19 to Worsen Hurricane Response. | D．Social Distancing Needed in Coming Months. |
【推荐2】An ocean researcher, Peter Bromirski, at the University of California, San Diego, says waves have been getting bigger and stronger since 1970. There are also more big wave events than ever before. A big wave is about four meters tall or more.
When large waves reach the coast, they bounce back and run into new waves. The crash sends energy through the ocean floor, where it can be recorded by seismographs (地震仪). Those records allowed Bromirski to decide the strength and size of waves over a period of 90 years.
Bromirski said he found the seismographic information by chance. Before the discovery, he said “it was almost impossible” to compare waves from the past with those from the present.
It took a lot of work to put the information together. Much of the information was on paper. Bromirski and his team of student researchers had to enter the information into a computer so they could study the information easily. The slow process (过程) took years.
They found that the height of most waves in the winter along the California coast had grown by about 30 centimeters since 1970. Starting that year, waves of over 4 meters happened more often as well. Between 1996 and 2016, the large waves happened twice as often as they did from 1949 to1969.
1970 is the year scientists believe the warming of the planet began to speed up. Bromirski says the new information shows that climate change is making ocean waves taller and stronger. That means they are more likely to harm the coast, roads and buildings.
Bromirski said his research may be a warning that bigger and stronger waves are ahead. With more warming, sea levels will rise and waves will get stronger, causing flooding and more damage (损坏) to land. The California coast has already been damaged by big waves in recent years.
1. What do we know from Paragraph 2?| A．Forms of sea waves near the coast. |
| B．Ways the water moves to the shore. |
| C．Process of recording sea wave strength. |
| D．Difference between present waves and past waves. |
| A．To examine whether it is correct. | B．To use it conveniently in research. |
| C．To share it with other researchers. | D．To make sure of the safety of the information. |
| A．It will cause more serious results. |
| B．It will make climate change for the worse. |
| C．It will result in more heavy rain on land. |
| D．It will bring more risk to human activities at sea. |
| A．Sea Level Rise Becomes More Obvious |
| B．Strong Ocean Waves Damage the Coast |
| C．Climate Warming Causes Sea Level to Rise |
| D．Ocean Waves Are Getting Bigger and Stronger |
【推荐3】You may laugh it off if someone told you that extreme weather disasters were actually a child’s tricks. But El Nino, meaning ＂little boy＂ in Spanish, could be about to cause trouble.
A recent statement from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned of a strong El Nino event that may be similar to the strongest in modern times. Scientists believe that evidence shows a more than 90 percent chance that it is coming – and it’s going to be big. ＂If this lives up to its potential, this thing can bring a lot of floods, mudslides (泥石流), and trouble,＂ said Bill Patzert, a NASA scientist.
El Nino is a climate event occurring in the Pacific Ocean. The wind usually blows strongly from east to west due to the rotation (旋转) of the Earth. This causes water to pile up in the Western Pacific and pulls up colder water from the bottom in the eastern part. However, in El Nino years, the winds pushing the water get weaker and cause the warmer water to shift back toward the east. This warms the ocean as it travels before finally reaching the shores of North and South America. In an El Nino event, the waters of the eastern Pacific can be up to 4 degrees Celsius warmer than usual.
Most El Ninos last from 9 to 12 months and their effects are felt around December. They don’t happen every year though, usually between every two to seven years.
Last seen in 1997-98, El Nino caused severe droughts in Australia, the Philippines and Indonesia, as well as deadly floods in Peru and Ecuador. The world also heats up during an ElNino – 1998 became the warmest year on record at the time. If the current trend continues, 2015 is almost certainly to become the hottest year yet again.
A strong El Nino also affects hurricane seasons around the planet. The warmer the Eastern Pacific is, the more hurricanes it gets. The Western Pacific, on the other hand, tends to see more and stronger typhoons.
The weather isn’t the only thing that’s affected. Warmer surface waters in the Eastern Pacific make the cold-water fish swim away and damage the fishing industry in much of Latin America.
1. What is the text mainly about?| A．El Nino and its harmful effects. | B．Extreme weather disasters ever. |
| C．The hottest years ever in history. | D．The strongest El Nino in history. |
| A．It results from hurricanes or typhoons in the oceans. |
| B．It happens every two years and last about half a year. |
| C．It is a weather phenomenon occurring in the Atlantic. |
| D．It can cause extreme weather, such as floods and droughts. |
| A．the wind blows so strongly that it causes the water to pile up |
| B．the fishing industry in much of Latin America is likely to suffer |
| C．the more typhoons it experiences, the warmer the Western Pacific is |
| D．the surface water in the Eastern Pacific usually gets colder than ever |
| A．a little Spanish child’s trick |
| B．the natural rotating of the Earth |
| C．an American expert’s prediction |
| D．the weaker winds in the Pacific |
The store consists of 6 floors and the men increase in positive attributes（品质，特点）as the shopper goes up the flights. There is, however, a catch（陷阱. As you open the door to any floor, you may choose a man from that floor, but if you go up a floor, you cannot go back down except to exit the building.
So a woman goes to the shopping center to find a husband. On the first floor the sign on the door reads: Floor 1—These men have jobs. The woman reads the sign and says to herself, “Well, that’s better than my last boyfriend, but I wonder what’s further up?”
So up she goes. The second floor sign reads: Floor 2 —These men have jobs and love kids. The woman remarks to herself, “That’s great, but I wonder what’s further up?”
And up she goes again. The third floor sign reads: Floor 3 — These men have jobs, love kids and are extremely good-looking. “Hmm, better.”
The fourth floor sign reads: Floor 4 —These men have jobs, love kids, are extremely good-looking and help with the housework. “Wow!” exclaims the woman, “Very tempting. But, there must be more, further up!”
And again she heads up another flight. The fifth floor sign reads: Floor 5 —These men have jobs, love kids, are extremely good-looking, help with the housework and have a strong romantic character. “Oh, mercy me! But just think…, what must be awaiting me further on?”
So up to the sixth floor she goes. The sixth floor sign reads: Floor 6 –You are visitor 3, 456, 789,012 to this floor. There are no men on this floor. Thank you for shopping Husband Mart and have a nice day.
1. The writer intends us to believe that _____.
| A．husbands are hard to shop |
| B．women are hard to please |
| C．women think they are better than men |
| D．women can’t be too careful when choosing husbands |
| A．because they think the husbands downstairs are not suitable. |
| B．because they are sure that the best husbands are on the top floor. |
| C．just because they think even better husbands may be upstairs. |
| D．maybe they know the catch very well. |
| A．Women are not good at shopping husbands. |
| B．Women are more kind than men. |
| C．Women are romantic. |
| D．More women will leave the shop alone. |
【推荐2】A tabletop bean seller in Accra, Ghana has grown her business into a popular fast-selling and highly profitable local restaurant in just under 2 years.
Once upon a time in 2019, Madam Evangeli who sold beans on a tabletop in Accra hadn’t even heard of selling food on the Internet. She started her business selling to only physical walk-in customers. A few months after she started the business, she got introduced to an online food delivery platform — Jumia Food. She was doubtful about it because she didn’t fully understand how the process worked and what the benefits were. After a few days of research, she decided to join as a vendor (小贩) and test the platform.
Just when she added herself to the list on the Jumia Food website, the country was forced into lockdown (封城) in March 2020. Her customer base began to reduce rapidly since there were restrictions (限制) on movement and there were almost no customers around to buy from her. This became a problem since the business was her primary source of livelihood. She sometimes came to work to prepare meals only for a handful of people to buy.
She then remembered that she had listed on Jumia so the love story began. She started using the platform frequently and growing the business during the COVID-19 lockdown. A week later, the number of orders had increased three times and things were getting better. This continued for months as many of her customers now had a way to stay in the comfort of their homes or offices and still get their meals delivered to them safely. Sales started increasing rapidly. Madam Evangeli also has plans to open more shops in other parts of the city in order to support young out-of-work people.
Her life has been changed through the Internet. There are many more food vendors like Madam Evangeli who are benefitting from the power of the Internet. E-commerce (电子商务) is the future and it is important that every stakeholder (参与人) play their part in making sure that more lives are touched through the Internet.
1. What did Madam Evangeli think of selling food online in 2019?| A．It could help to change the poor’s life. |
| B．It could make her food popular. |
| C．It was full of the unknown. |
| D．It was a waste of time. |
| A．She suffered customer losses after lockdown. |
| B．She had no money to run more shops. |
| C．She had no time to prepare meals. |
| D．She couldn’t find a worker. |
| A．It gave many chances to jobless people. |
| B．It helped her to find her true love. |
| C．It failed to draw much attention. |
| D．It developed surprisingly fast. |
| A．People’s life is changing through the Internet. |
| B．E-commerce is a major choice of food vendors. |
| C．People’s attitude towards the Internet differs widely. |
| D．Madam Evangeli has encouraged others to do business online. |
【推荐3】College students constantly hear the praises of education. We have all become used to believing that a college education is always a guarantee of an easier life. I was nine years old when my fourth-grade teacher presented me with a task, to write down all of the things I wanted in my life. I filled my paper with things like: own a big house and have servants; be rich and have a good job. The next day my teacher handed back my paper and in red ink she wrote: “GO TO COLLEGE.” For a long time, I was convinced that once I obtained an education, BAM! Life would be easier.
However, education cannot promise all wishes, dreams, and desires. Society must reject the foolish idea that a college education’s main purpose is to satisfy our desires and secure success. Like most challenging things, education is a gamble (赌博) in which results depend entirely on people’s ability to look past their wants to see the realism and reason behind their wants.
For instance, my first year of college, I took a sociology class. In class, we were taught that Third World countries were poor. We learned that our quality of life would be almost impossible for an average person in those countries. I began to examine my own desire to be rich. To always go after money felt selfish when knowing others had none at all. Learning about other society’s financial situations forced me to look beyond what I wanted.
Through the process of education, everything once desired is tested. Wanting something no longer is enough; it’s more important to examine why we want it and whether we really want it. When my desire for money changed, everything changed. I stopped longing for money-driven careers and stopped valuing the people who had them. I began to examine the things I purchased and my reason for wanting them.
Education is a tool to be used to develop and advance our desires, so we can discover the things that are truly significant in life. Education is a source to expand our society to see beyond the superficial (表面的) appeals and the “quick fixes”, leaving the belief of an effortless life behind in order to desire a meaningful one.
1. The author’s fourth-grade teacher probably agreed that ______.| A．the author was an ambitious student |
| B．the author should set more realistic goals |
| C．a college student would lead an easier life |
| D．a college degree was the key to the author’s dreams |
| A．To share her learning experiences with readers. |
| B．To support her new understanding about education. |
| C．To express her sympathy for people in Third World. |
| D．To stress the importance of taking a sociology course. |
| A．envied rich people |
| B．lost interest in career |
| C．desired more material things |
| D．stopped always seeking more wealth |
| A．College education promises an effortless life. |
| B．College education tests and guides our life desires. |
| C．College education offers solutions to social problems. |
| D．College education turns young people into gamblers. |
