【推荐1】Should we allow modern buildings to be built next to older buildings in a historic area of a city? In order to answer this question, we must first examine whether people really want to preserve the historic feel of an area. Not all historical buildings are attractive. However, there may be other reasons—for example, economic (经济的) reasons—why they should be preserved. So, let us assume that historical buildings are both attractive and important to the majority of people. What should we do then if a new building is needed?

In my view, new architectural styles can exist perfectly well alongside an older style. Indeed, there are many examples in my own home town of Tours where modern designs have been placed very successfully next to old buildings. As long as the building in question is pleasing and does not dominate (影响) its surroundings too much, it often improves the attractiveness of the area.

It is true that there are examples of new buildings which have spoilt (破坏) the area they are in, but the same can be said of some old buildings too. Yet people still speak against new buildings in historic areas. I think this is simply because people are naturally conservative(保守的)and do not like change.

Although we have to respect people’s feelings as fellow users of the buildings, I believe that it is the duty of the architect and planner to move things forward . If we always reproduced what was there before, we would all still be living in caves. Thus, I would argue against copying previous architectural styles and choose something fresh and different , even though that might be the more risky choice.

1. What does the author say about historical buildings in the first paragraph?

A．Some of them are not attractive.

B．Most of them ate too expensive to preserve.

C．They are more pleasing than modern buildings.

D．They have nothing to do with the historic feel of an area.

2. Which of the following is true according to the author ?

A．We should reproduce the same old buildings.

B．Buildings should not dominate their surroundings.

C．Some old buildings have spoilt the area they are in.

D．No one understands why people speak against new buildings.

3. By “move things forward ” in the last paragraph , the author probably means“      ”

A．destroy old buildings

B．put things in a different place

C．respect people’s feelings for historical buildings

D．choose new architectural styles

4. What is the main purpose of the passage?

A．To explain why people dislike change.

B．To argue that modern buildings can be built in historic areas.

C．To warn that we could end up living in caves.

D．To admit how new buildings have ruined their surroundings.

【推荐3】

We Buy Houses - Sell Houses Fast

* Do you want to sell a house fast?

* Have you recently been relocated and need a fast home sale?

* Are you tired of the time consuming For Sale By Owner process?

* Do you want to get Top Dollar for you Home?

We Buy and Sell Houses and Homes Fast - Any Condition

We will Call you today for a Fast, Free, No Obligation Consultation

We are a national group of real estate professionals

http://www.pcfinvestments.com/www/localoffices.htm that specializes in helping home owners sell their home as quickly and easily as possible. There is no upfront cost and no obligation because we are devoted to providing you with the best option for a fast home sale. We routinely buy and sell all types of property, in any condition, and in most locations. In many cases we can close on your house quickly, often in 9 days or less, with all cash and at no cost to you.

We are experienced professionals that can sell just about any house, no matter what type, size, location, or condition. In fact, depending on the situation, we can often make you an offer today and buy your house within 24 hours! We know that selling your home can be an intimidating process, but we can help make it a much easier, faster, and less stressful experience.

We want to help you sell your house as quickly as possible. Our nationwide network of knowledgeable real estate specialists are available to discuss in detail all available options, from quick cash closings to a more traditional listing arrangements. We understand that every situation is unique; therefore we do not provide a one-size-fits-all solution. We want to work with you, understand your needs, and help. you find the best solution for your specific circumstances.

The best part is that our services are absolutely Free to you, the home owner. We want to help you sell your house fast, and we want to help you today. There is No Obligation, No Risk, and No Cost for our services!

1. Who are supposed to be interested in this advertisement?

A．Those who want to buy a new house.	B．Those who need to rent an apartment.
C．Those who have extra houses for sale.	D．Those who want to have free houses.

2. Which is the probable explanation for the underlined word "relocated"?

A．Borrowing money, from banks.	B．Moving to a new place.
C．Promoted.	D．Tired.

3. What can be inferred from the advertisement?

A．It usually takes two weeks to sell a house.

B．They can sell all kinds of houses everywhere in the world.

C．They have free consultants to answer your questions.

D．They can buy you a new house within 24 hours.

【推荐1】It’s a windy day in Laguna San Ignacio, and the waves seem to come from all directions. My children and I are riding on a 18-foot boat — small enough that we can reach down into the water if a gray whale swims up alongside. And then we see what we’ve come for: a heart-shaped shower of water and a dark mass rushing below it. As instructed, we splash (溅泼) the water to signal the huge whale, which turns out a mother with her baby. The baby soon swims beneath our boat, appears to blow mist in my face, then lies onto its side like a 2-ton puppy. Leaning down, I touched its skin gently. It feels electric. Also, a bit like petting a hard-boiled egg.

San Ignacio is one of very few places where a person can pet a whale. The whales come each year to give birth and to mate. If you’re lucky, you can shake hands with a leatheryfin (鳍) or even plant a kiss on a cold, salty cheek. I usually worry about such interactions, because wild creatures can become deeply stressed by human contact. But boat numbers are strictly limited. And any whale that approaches a boat does so on its own terms. Like that baby whale, we see him a few times, and he seems to like being petted and splashed.”

So we are two species, connecting through touch, but also through eye contact. Whalers used to call gray whales “devil fish” because these attractive creatures turn violent when threatened. That makes it feel even more of a blessing when, on our third day there, a large mama whale approaches the boat. I’m splashing when I feel her nose press up into my hand. Though she’s wiser and apparently more alert than her child, she still decides to trust us.

1. Which of the following statements is true?

A．The writer was on a whale-touching trip.

B．The writer’s boat went down with a huge wave.

C．The baby whale splashed water all over the writer.

D．The mother whale’s skin felt as hard as a boiled egg.

2. What does the phrase “does so on its own terms” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．is mad with too many visitors.

B．is ready for hands-on attention.

C．is restricted in swimming routes.

D．is enclosed in their safety zones.

3. From what do Gray whales get the name of “devil fish”?

A．strange appearance	B．inborn violence
C．fierceness in danger	D．surprisingly enormous size

4. What’ s the writer’s implied purpose in the passage?

A．To popularize the knowledge of whales.

B．To share an experience of the sea voyage.

C．To show admiration for whales’ motherhood.

D．To advocate harmony between man and nature.

【推荐2】When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book, and a poor man got it.

The book wasn't very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip of vellum on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”．

The touchstone was a small pebble that could turn any common metal into pure gold.

The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his house, bought a tent, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up normal pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebbles hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold—throw it into sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea. The days stretched into months and the months into years.

One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He was used to throwing each pebble into the sea as soon as he picked it up. So when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant, it's easy to fail to realize an opportunity when it is in hand and it's just as easy to throw it away.

1. According to the passage, the touchstone is a stone ________.

A．that you can touch	B．that can turn common metal into pure gold
C．that can bring you thousands of pebbles	D．that can bring you good luck

2. The man threw the touchstone into the sea because ________.

A．it was cold	B．it was a normal pebble
C．he was too tired to hold it	D．he had formed a habit

3. What's the meaning of the underlined word “vigilant” in the last paragraph?

A．Brave enough.	B．Hard-working enough.
C．Careful enough.	D．Strong enough.

4. What does the writer want to tell us?

A．Opportunity knocks but once.	B．Use it or lose it.
C．Where there is a will, there is a way.	D．Practice makes perfect.

【推荐3】A mother is devastated, crying, yelling all she can in that dark corner. There was nobody tohear her yell and not a soul to calm her, because outside her house is a long winding lonely road.The wind was at rest and the leaves didn't rustle, silence filling the air. Loneliness was alreadykilling her，but no one knows what made her cry.
Losing something you love with all your heart isn't really the pain you can ever overcome.Radha lost her baby, her only means to live. She saw her child getting killed and the accidentwas terrible. One lonely night, she was walking down the street to get a breath of fresh air withher child hugged tight in her arms.
The whole time she walked with her child in her arms. The only thing that worried her wasAryan's future. She was imagining and feeling every day of the child’s growth, and figuringwhat she would have in store for him. But who knows what's in store for us tomorrow? Life canchange in a second.
On that deserted road, were a few streetlights barely enough? It was this one light that couldbe seen from a distance, but as it came closer it got brighter and brighter. That light changedRadha's life into darkness forever. A speeding car came down that road. The driver came at aspeed of 110 kmph throwing beer bottles out of his half open window. He was definitely drunk,and the speed took everything in its path. Just then, there was a loud cry, and silence set in again.
But the mother wasn’t hurt. She opened her eyes, unable to focus her eyes, and didn’t seeAryan. After a few minutes when her sight cleared up she looked all over in a panic for her baby,but alas! ... The child hadn’t even seen life.
Simply, don't drink and drive. _________________________.
1. The word“devastated” in Paragraph 1 would probably mean____________ .

A．worried	B．scared
C．heart-broken	D．weather-beaten

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE of Radha?

A．She had expected much of Aryan.

B．She got her eyes injured in the accident.

C．She was hit by one bottle on the arm.

D．She had everything ready for Aryan's future.

3. The last sentence underlined implies that __________.

A．drunk driving is absolutely forbidden

B．drunk driving is certain to kill a lot of people

C．the driver killed Aryan and his mother

D．there is more than one victim (受害者) in a car accident

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A．The Death of a Miserable Child

B．The Price for Another Man's Mistake

C．A Sad Mother on a Windy Night

D．Overspeeding from Drunk Driving

【推荐1】I would like to tell you a story about my uncle Theo. He is my oldest uncle, a tall, thin, grey-haired man whose thoughts are always on learning and nothing else. He is quiet, gentle and absent-minded and with about as much sense as a child where money is concerned. Well, he applied a post in Camford University. It was a very good post and there were hundreds of candidates who applied for it, and about fifteen, including Theo, were asked to be interviewed.
Camford is a very small town; there is only one hotel in it, and it was so full that they had to put many of the candidates two in a room. Theo was one of these, and the man who shared the room with him was a self-confident fellow called Adams, about twenty years younger than Theo, with a loud voice, and a laugh that you could hear all over the hotel. But he was a clever fellow all the same and had a good post in Iscaiot College, Narkover. Well, the Dean, who was the head of the department of the University, and the committee interviewed all the candidates; and as a result of this interview, the number of the candidates was reduced to two, Uncle Theo and Adams. The committee couldn’t decide which of the two to take, so they decided to make their final choice after each of the candidates had given a public lecture in the college lecture-hall. The subject they had to speak on was “The Civilization of the Ancient Summerians”; and the lecture had to be given in three days’ time.
Well, for these three days Uncle Theo never left his room. He worked day and night at that lecture, writing it out and memorizing it, almost without eating or sleeping. Adams didn’t seem to do any preparation at all. You could hear his voice and his laughter where he had a crowd of people around him. He came to his room late at night, asked Uncle Theo how he was getting on with his lecture, and then told him how he had spent the evening playing bridge, or at the music hall. He ate like a horse and slept like a log; and Uncle Theo sat up working at his lecture.
The day of the lecture arrived. They all went into the lecture hall and Theo and Adams took their seats on the platform. And then, Theo discovered, to his horror,   that typewritten copy of his speech had disappeared! The Dean said they would call on the candidates on the alphabetical order, Adams first; and the despair in his heart, Theo watched Adams calmly take the stolen speech out of pocket and read it to the professors who were gathered to hear it. And how well he read it! Even Uncle Theo had to admit he couldn’t have read it nearly so eloquently himself, and when Adams finished there was a great burst of applause. Adams bowed and smiled, and sat down.
Now, it was Theo’s turn. But what could he do? He had put everything he knew into the lecture. His mind was too much upset to put the same thoughts in another way. With a burning face he could only repeat, word for word, in a low, dull voice, the lecture that Adams had spoken so eloquently. There was hardly any applause when he sat down.
The Dean and the committee went out to decide who the successful candidate was, but everyone was sure what their decision would be. Adams leaned across to Theo and patted him on the back and said, smilingly, “Hard luck, old fellow, but after all, only one of us could win”
Then the Dean and the committee came back, “Gentlemen”, the Dean said, “the candidate we have chosen is Mr. Hobdell.” Uncle Theo had won! The audience were completely taken by surprise, and the Dean continued, “ I think I ought to tell you how we arrived at the decision. We were all filled with admiration at the learning and eloquence of Mr. Adams. I was greatly impressed. But, you will remember, Mr. Adams read his lecture to us. When Mr. Hobdell’s turn came, he repeated that speech, word by word from memory, though, of course, he couldn’t have seen a line of it before. Now a fine memory is absolutely necessary for this post; and what a memory Mr. Hobdell must have! This is why we decided that Mr. Hobdell was exactly the man we wanted! ”
As they walked out of the room, the Dean came up to Uncle Theo, who was so confused but so happy that he hardly knew whether he was standing on his head or heels; and as he shook Theo’s hand he said, “Congratulations, Mr. Hobdell! But, my fellow, when you are on our staff, you must be more careful and not leave valuable papers lying about!”
1. Which of the followings best describes Uncle Theo?

A．Good-mannered

B．Modest

C．Childish

D．Bookish

2. What do we know about the post at Camford University?

A．The applicants had to sit for an examination.

B．There was much competition for the post.

C．The post requires a lot of teaching experience.

D．The post offered quite high salary.

3. Adams did not bother to do any preparation because______.

A．he was quite familiar with the subject.

B．he knew the committee members well.

C．he had a well-thought-out plan.

D．he had full confidence in himself.

4. When Uncle Theo’s turn came, _______.

A．he felt so angry that he couldn’t see a word.

B．he felt so upset that he could not remember anything.

C．he had to put the same thoughts in another way.

D．he had to repeat the speech, word by word from memory.

5. When the committee went out to make a decision, Adams _______.

A．could not help feeling worried.

B．could hardly wait to show his joy.

C．felt sorry for Theo and tried to cheer him up.

D．felt ashamed and tried to chat with Theo.

6. Uncle Theo became successful because _______.

A．he had a better memory than Adams.

B．he was more experienced than Adams.

C．the committee knew he was exactly the man they wanted.

D．the committee knew Adams had copied Theo’s speech.

【推荐2】My hands were shaking uncontrollably. I tried incredibly hard to focus on the words that I spent hours putting down on paper. I tried to conquer my fear of speaking in public on numerous occasions throughout my life. During college and at my first few jobs, I would get ridiculously nervous when I had to give a presentation or lead a meeting. Public speaking had been my nemesis for as long as I could remember.

Then in my mid-thirties, I decided to join the public speaking group Toastmasters. At every meeting, we were rated and forced to compete with other speakers for an award. You would think that I would walk away from these experiences as a polished speaker, but nothing seemed to work.

It wasn’t until recently, when science and scientific institutions were being attacked for unfair reasons during the pandemic, that I decided I must speak out. Science has made this country a place where dreams come true — this is why we all need to protect science. In addition, as a science writer, I try to get readers to understand how science is related to their daily lives.

So I ended up on that frightening stage on that sunny Saturday in April — Earth Day. Despite the body shakes and fear, I persevered. That day, I looked out into the crowd of like-minded science supporters and I felt comfort.

Reaching that milestone goal of getting through a speech truly changed me. At almost forty, I learned that passion can set off a flame in my heart to do things I never dreamed possible. The darkness that led to my speech is sure to lead to new opportunities and adventures.

1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “nemesis” in Para. 1?

A．Strength.

B．Confusion

C．Preference.

D．Struggles.

2. What happened to the author when leaving Toastmasters?

A．Things got worse for him.	B．Nervousness remained with him.
C．He became a polished writer.	D．He began to feel more competitive.

3. What made the author want to speak out on Earth Day?

A．He must rise up to defend science.

B．It was a good chance to learn science.

C．It was a project organized by Toastmasters.

D．He couldn’t have people attacking his fellow scientists.

4. What lesson did the author draw from his successful speech?

A．Frustration can be a stepping stone to success.

B．Love motivates us to achieve the unachievable.

C．Science can lead us to make wonderful changes.

D．Any difficulty can be overcome with great effort.