Mt Augustus, the world’s largest rock, sits in the Golden Outback of Western Australia. Rich with untouched beauty, it is one of the greatest spots in Western Australia.
Mt Augustus is about two and a half times the size of Uluru (Ayers Rock), another of Australia’s famous landmarks. With Mt Augustus covering an area of some 11,860 acres, it’s safe to say that its title as “the world’s largest rock” is safe.
Mt Augustus rises to a height of 717 meters above a stony, red sand plain. Mt Augustus has a central ridge(山脊) which is almost 5 miles long. It’s clear to see that this rock is very large and is a powerful piece of nature.
Scientists believe that the rock of the mountain is around one billion years old, sitting on the rock said to be 1.65 billion years old.
Mt Augustus was named in honor of Sir Charles Gregory (1819-1905), brother of the explorer Francis Gregory who was the first to climb the mountain. The local people call it Burringurrah. It’s said that a young boy was turned into the rock.
The climb to the top of the mountain can take up to 5 hours. There are a large number of walking trails around and up the mountain. You can get advice on the walking trails from Mt Augustus Outback Tourist Resort at the foot of the mountain.
Mt Augustus is about 530 miles from Perth. Roads covered with gravel. The going can be slow and hard but certainly challenging. Some roads may be closed after heavy rain.
| Mt Augustus—the world’s largest rock | |
| Size | It is much It covers an area of about 11,860 acres. |
| It is 717 meters high, above a stony plain. | |
| Age | It is It sits on a 1.65 billion-year-old rock. |
| Name origin | Mt Augustus was Francis Gregory was the |
| Trails | It takes up to 5 hours to You can get advice on the walking tails from Mt Augustus Outback Tourist Resort at the |
| Directions | Mt Augustus is about 530 miles from Perth. Getting to Mt Augustus isn’t Some roads may be closed after raining |
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The third largest country in the world
China is the third largest country in the world. In the north-west, you can find the hottest and driest places in the country. In the west, the countryside is beautiful, and the mountains are high. Some of the mountains are more than 7000 metres high. They are covered with ice and snow all year round, so people cannot live there. Qomolangma is the highest mountain in the world. It is also in the west. Every year people from all over the world try and climb it.
Some of China’s most important rivers begin in these mountains. In the west, they are very small. Then they become bigger as they flow to the east. Rivers like the Changjiang River and the Yellow River begin in the west of China.
In some places, the rivers are connected to big lakes, like Dongting Lake in Hunan Province. Most of the rivers run to the east and the south. In time, they run into one of China’s seas—the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea or the South China Sea.
1. Is China the largest country in the world?2. Why can’t people live on the high mountains in the west?
3. Where do the Changjiang River and the Yellow River begin?
4. What are some of the rivers in China connected to?
Every morning my father buys a newspaper on his way to work. Every evening my mother looks through (浏览) magazines at home. And every night, I look at the posters (海报) with photos of Messi and LeBron James on my bedroom wall before I go to sleep. Can we imagine (想象) life without paper or printing?
About 2,000 years ago, paper was invented in China. Then people learned to write words on paper to make a book. Because in those days, they could write books by hand. So, books were expensive and rare (珍贵的) at that time. And because there weren’t many books, few people learned to read.
Then printing was invented in China and it developed greatly at the beginning of the 11th century.
The people could print books quickly and cheaply (便宜地). As a result, more people learned to read.
After that, knowledge and ideas spread quickly.
Today with the help of the Internet we can contact each other and share information quickly. We can also read newspapers and magazines online. But will the computer replace (替代) books one day? No, I don’t think the poster of LeBron James on my bedroom wall will ever be replaced by a computer of two meters high!
1～2题完成句子；3题简略回答问题；4～5题回答问题。1.
2. Today we can contact each other and share information quickly
3. When did printing develop quickly?
4. Why were books expensive and rare about 2,000 years ago?
5. Do you think the computer will replace books one day? Why or why no?
Mars is full of surprises. Not long ago, something strange showed up in a picture of this planet. It is a pattern (图案) on the ground that looks like a bear face.
The picture was taken from high above Mars. Scientists took a closer look at the bear. Different marks on the ground make up the face of the bear. Its two eyes are big holes known as craters (坑). Rocks from space hit the surface of Mars long ago and then made the craters. The nose of the bear is a hill. Part of the hill has broken off in the shape of a V. The circle that forms the head is a crack (裂缝) in the ground. It might be the edge (边缘) of a crater that was much larger. Later, something like lava (岩浆) filled it. The “lava” might have come out of the hill that formed the nose.
Seeing a bear face on Mars is not as unusual as it might sound. The human mind is finding patterns in the world all the time. This is why you might see a cloud and think that its shape is like an animal or object.
People watching the surface of Mars have had experiences like this. In 1976, people were excited to find something like a human face in a picture of Mars. But it was just a huge rock.
These days, people take pictures of all kinds of things on Mars. Some have strange shapes. They might look like Martians made them, but it is probably not true. So far, Mars seems to be lifeless. The strange shapes people see are just patterns in the land.
Recently, a pattern was found on Mars. It looks like a face of a bear. Scientists took a closer look at it. In fact, the bear face is made up of different marks on the ground. The eyes are two large It might not be as unusual as it sounds to see such a face on Mars. The human mind is Now, people take pictures of all kinds of things on Mars. Some in |
阅读下列短文，根据短文中的信息完成文后表格。（每空一词）
Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good, most would admit that their spoken English is poor. Whenever I speak to a Chinese student, they always say, “My spoken English is poor.” However, their spoken English does not have to remain “poor”. I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English.
First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves because of a limited vocabulary. Obviously，the better answer is to enlarge their vocabulary. However, you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive(积极的). Others will follow you as long as(只要)you use the words that you know.
Second, they are afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous. Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY(流利性)NOT ACCURACY(准确性). Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using them to get your message across(使别人了解你的信息) . But to talk to someone in English, as quickly and well as you can, even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense, but it doesn’t matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and forgive you for any mistakes he hears.
The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening. You have one mouth but two ears! All the hearing is necessary for you to start speaking.
Fourth, most Chinese students are somewhat passive language learners. Instead of actively looking for opportunities (机会)to improve their spoken English, they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor. If you are active language learners, then, you will see English chances wherever you go.
If you do not use your English beyond the classroom, you will forget that English you know. Remember: USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more.
| Title: Some reasons for the | |
| Reasons | Solutions/Tips |
| Limit of | You have to |
| You should take a positive | |
| Worries about making | Being shy and |
| You should pay | |
| Lack(缺乏) of attention while | Before you start speaking, learn to listen. |
| Try to be an active language learner | As language learners, most Chinese students are passive instead of being |
| You should make full | |
【推荐2】Recently, teenagers face many kinds of problems. Like many of them, I was once troubled with worries and dissatisfaction. Few people could understand my feelings. Neither could my parents.
“The problem with your generation(一代人) is that you always expect to be happy,” my mother once said. Surely happiness was the purpose of living. Shouldn’t we try hard to achieve it?
But now I have noticed a change in my thinking. I gradually realize what my mother said was correct. Over these years, many studies have shown that we are crazy about happiness and high personal confidence. That may make us less satisfied with our lives. In fact, we may often be happier when we stop paying attention to happiness.
We should also reset our expectations of the future. Don’t expect miracles(奇迹 ), and accept that no matter how hard we try, feelings of failure and unhappiness will appear from time to time. When we feel sad, it’s often because we have learned something painful but important. So it’s necessary for us to accept sad feelings as a part of life. At the same time, we should learn how to deal with them better than trying to make them disappear.
Happiness arrives when we are least expecting it. As my mother tried to teach me all those years ago, “Prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and be unsurprised by everything in between.”
1—2题阅读短文，根据英文释义及首字母提示拼写单词；3题阅读短文，完成同义句转换，每空一词；4—6题根据短文内容回答问题。
1. g
2. c
3. In fact, we may often be happier when we stop paying attention to happiness.
As
4. Why are we less satisfied with our lives?
5. Do we need to accept sad feeling in our life?
6. When will the happiness arrive?
In many countries, people are encouraged to buy electric cars. It is said that driving an electric car is good for the environment. But is that true? The University of Minnesota recently studied emissions (排放物) from different cars. The scientists found that sometimes, electric cars are more harmful than petrol (汽油) cars.
Surprising? Well, please pay attention to the word “sometimes”. Electric cars are supposed to be clean. The problem lies in the power that is used to charge them. If the power comes from wind or solar energy, electric cars will cause little pollution. However, if the power is produced from coal, they will be very harmful. According to the study, emissions from these cars kill about 3,000 people a year. However, pollution caused by petrol cars only leads to 880 deaths a year.
In fact, sales people are not lying when they say electric cars are clean. However, they are right only when the power used to charge their cars is also clean.
So how clean electric cars are depends on what its electricity comes from. In France, more than half of the power comes from nuclear (核) stations. Electric cars there should be as clean as they are marketed to be. In many developing countries, however, electricity mainly comes from coal. India, for example, depends on coal for 61 percent of its power. Only two percent of electricity comes from nuclear energy. In countries like India electric cars are not clean at all.
1. Why are people in many countries encouraged to buy electric cars? Because they think electric cars2. How are electric cars whose power come from wind or solar energy?
If the power of electric cars comes from wind or solar energy, it will cause
3. How many people may be killed a year by the emissions from the cars whose power is produced by coal?
Emissions from the cars whose power is produced by coal can kill about
4. According to the passage, in which country the electric cars are cleaner than many developing countries?
Electric cars from
5. Where may power of electric cars come from? (至少写出文中提到的两种能源)
