1 . A year back I received a full scholarship to attend the University of San Francisco. All of my hard work had paid off. My mom had spent a lot in my attending a private high school, so I made sure to push myself: I volunteered, joined different clubs, and graduated with honors.
I was so excited to start a new life. I had totally packed two weeks and wanted to go to college at once before it was time to leave.
Soon enough, the big day came, but it wasn’t like what I had thought. The first two weeks were the most difficult days of my entire life. Every night I would cry myself to sleep.
I was so homesick (想家) and I didn’t know how to deal with my broken heart. To distract myself, I threw myself into my studies and I applied for a lot of jobs. In any remaining free time, I started forcing myself to the gym. I wanted to keep every part of my day busy so I wouldn’t think how lonely I felt.
Soon after, I began to limit food, and then I became worse. Finally, I went to see a doctor. When the doctor weighed me, I was crazy about the number of my weight. So I continued to lower my goal, and convinced that controlling this number was the solution to my homesickness. But when I was told that I had no choice but to spend time on my studies. I quickly started recovery in my mind.
How could I do? I told myself that school was what I was best at. I decided to get rid of my homesickness and took exercise actively. My first term of college had passed by at last and I had gotten straight A’s. That’s why I want to share my story—to help other students feel less lonely.
1. How was the author during the two weeks before she left for the college?| A．She was as normal as before. |
| B．She couldn’t wait to leave for the college. |
| C．She was afraid to leave her home. |
| D．She didn’t enjoy her mother’s company. |
| A．Her weight. | B．Her diet. |
| C．Her homesickness. | D．Her bad study habit. |
| A．achieve my dream | B．earn money by myself |
| C．improve my studies | D．take my attention away |
| A．To look back at her past middle school life. |
| B．To help girls to lose weight. |
| C．To help lonely college students. |
| D．To increase her own confidence. |
2 . Ellen Parker was worried about her health. She could not walk very quickly and it was difficult for her to climb stairs. She was soon out of breath. “I suppose I had better go to the doctor,” she thought. She went to the doctor and told him her problem.
“I’m not at all surprised, ” he said. “It’s clear what your problem is.”
He examined her and then gave her some advice.
“If you don’t do what I say, Mrs. Parker,” he said, “you will have a heart attack. It could kill you.” Ellen was very worried as she left the doctor’s. She knew that she had to take his advice but that it would not be easy and it would take time.
The next day she went shopping. The first shop she went into was a butcher’s shop (肉铺).
“I’d like ten pounds of steak (牛排), please,” she said.
“Certainly, madam,” the butcher replied and went into the cold room and found a large piece of steak. He brought the huge piece of meat back into the shop and placed it on the scale (秤).
“That’s just under ten pounds,” he said.
“That’s big enough,” Mrs. Parker said.
The butcher worked out the price. “At ＄4. 99 a pound. That will be ＄49.50, please. Would you like me to cut it up into smaller pieces for you?”
“Oh, I don’t want to buy the meat,” Mrs. Parker said.
“If you don’t want to buy it,” the butcher replied angrily, “why did you ask me to get it for you?”
“My doctor told me that I am overweight and have to lose ten pounds. I wanted to see what ten pounds of flesh looked like.”
1. The reason why Ellen Parker visited the doctor is that________.| A．she had had a heart attack. | B．she had a problem with her health. |
| C．she was unhappy about her weight. | D．she could not sleep well. |
| A．she wanted to buy some for dinner. | B．she wanted to lose weight. |
| C．her doctor had told her to eat steak. | D．she wanted to see what ten pounds of meat looked like. |
| A．She ate too much steak. | B．She weighed too much. |
| C．The doctor did not know. | D．She could not walk very quickly. |
3 . Mosquitoes are one of the few unpleasant parts of summer. As the temperature rises, these disease-carrying pests become a common sight, especially around standing water. Thankfully, these tiny annoying creatures don’t follow us into the winter, right? Wrong. According to researchers in Florida, climate change will likely keep mosquitoes active even in the colder months of the year. “In tropical (热带的) areas, mosquitoes are active all year, but that isn’t the case for the rest of the world. Outside of the tropics, winter temperatures cause mosquitoes to go into a kind of hibernation called diapause (滞育). We call these mosquitoes ‘cold bounded’ because their activity is limited by these lower temperatures,” says Brett Scheffers, assistant professor in the wildlife eco logy and conservation department, in a university release.
“However, with climate change, summers are to get longer and winters are to become shorter and warmer. What will that mean for those cold bounded mosquitoes? How will they respond?” To see just how adaptive mosquitoes are already becoming to changing temperatures throughout the year, researchers collected these insects during each season in Gainesville, Florida.
Study authors caught over 28,000 insects from 18 different mosquito species during their experiment. Scientists lured the pests by using a trap that produces carbon dioxide. Mosquitoes seek out this gas, which both humans and animals blow out when they breathe. For these pests, the gas signals that a tasty meal is nearby. The team randomly selected 1,000 of these mosquitoes to test in their lab temperature experiment. They placed each insect in a test tube before putting it in water. From there, researchers continued to change the temperature, from cold to hot. At the same time, the team monitored when each mosquito became inactive—marking their upper or lower temperature thresholds (阈点).
As for what is allowing mosquitoes to make these rapid adjustments to the weather, the answer is still unclear. However, researchers believe evolution could be working at a much faster rate in tinier creatures. Study authors believe their findings will help communities better prepare for insect season as climate change continues to lengthen summer.
1. What does Brett Scheffers think of those cold bounded mosquitoes’ behaviors?| A．Less active. | B．More alarming. | C．More annoying. | D．Less consistent. |
| A．To find out why summer gets longer. |
| B．To see how mosquitoes spread in tropical areas. |
| C．To learn how mosquitoes are adapting to climate change. |
| D．To learn why climate change is related to species evolution. |
| A．Killed. | B．Attracted. | C．Changed. | D．Protected. |
| A．Cold bounded mosquitoes are easily trapped |
| B．Wildlife ecology helps better prepare for insect season |
| C．Mosquitoes will be a year-long problem due to climate change |
| D．The cause of mosquitoes’ rapid adjustments to the weather is clear |
4 . Welcome to Santa Cruz County. It is home to rough coastline and it’s the main destination for many hiking adventurers!
California King Tides Are Coming!
California King Tides are coming back to Santa Cruz County, and this season you have even more opportunities to enjoy these impressive tides! These naturally occurring and predictable events are when the highest and lowest tides hit our shores and create an even more dramatic coastline.
Winter Wildlife Getaway!
This season marks the start of the best wildlife watching on the California coast! Migrating whales and many special birds make December and January the perfect time for a wildlife adventure.
Magic Monarch Butterfly!
In Santa Cruz, we like to celebrate all creatures great and small, especially those of the migrating variety. On one hand, we are attracted by the sight of a whale surfaceing from the depths of the sea and, on the other hand, we delight in the attractive magic of a flying monarch butterfly.
County Shores!
Explore Santa Cruz County shores, and you’ll delight in rock y tide pools full of unique sea creatures. While exploring local tide pools, remember to have respect for your surroundings.
Care & Safety
Never turn your back on the ocean. Sleeper waves are a real phenomenon, and can sweep you away at any time.
We know how wonderful it might be to touch a plant or catch a fish from its waters, but disrupting tide pool life harms its inhabitants. Even if you think you’re saving a fish that appears to be pushed out of water, it’s best to leave it be. The tide will finally return it.
1. What are California King Tides like?| A．Unpredictable. | B．Splendid. | C．Ordinary. | D．Destructive. |
| A．Spring. | B．Summer. | C．Autumn. | D．Winter. |
| A．Handle them gently. | B．Catch them immediately. |
| C．Leave them where they are. | D．Take them back to the ocean. |
5 . Some Strangest Festivals From Around The World
Through the years, people have found many ways to celebrate important occasions in their lives. If you’re looking for an interesting and off-the-beaten-path travel place, here are some most wonderful and unusual festivals from around the world.
Boryeong Annual Mud Festival, Boryeong rock
This festival takes place at the beach, with much mud (泥巴) resource from the sea. At this festival, people take part in a number of activities involving (涉及) mud, which not only brings back happy childhood memories but is good for the skin.
World Body-painting Festival, Pörtschach, Austria
This entire festival is not strange because of the activities that occur (发生) during it, but because of the way people look when it’s over. During this time, artists worldwide flood in and hold live body-painting activities. They are painting creative designs on willing participants (参与者).
Underwater Music Festival, Florida, America
Rather than being held at a typical concert hall, the underwater Music Festival takes place on the seabed. This special custom is unlike any others because it featured musicians playing music below water level. 100 feet deep in clear water, talented musicians wear diving (潜水) equipment, performing free concerts for sea creatures and humans alike.
Battle of the orange, Ivrea, Italy
This Italian town hosts one of the most unusual festivals. Each year in February, a battle (战斗) takes place among thousands of participants who have to throw orange at each other during a 30-minute fight. The aim is to try and knock down other participants by attacking them with oranges so that they cannot stand any longer.
1. What can tourists do at the Boryeong Annual Mud Festival?| A．Experience mud bath. | B．Join in fights with oranges. |
| C．Have their faces painted. | D．Enjoy live music underwater. |
| A．Battle of the oranges. | B．Underwater Music Festival. |
| C．World Body-painting Festival. | D．Boryeong Annual Mud Festival. |
| A．Lions. | B．Dolphins. | C．Elephants. | D．Pandas. |
6 . One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap (包装).
On September 11th, 1958, Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying, “I promised you a gift, and here it is.” What an honour! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories. I told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it.Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as “hopeless”, “pitiful”, and “dying”, which sounded ominous.
Christmas was coming. “Don’t expect any presents this year,” Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room.“If your baby brother lives, that’ll be Christmas enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I’d never seen him cry before.
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say, “What? He’s all right?” He hung up and shouted upstairs. “The hospital said we can bring Richard home!”
“Thank God!” I heard Mum cry.
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them so happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I ran downstairs. My socks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love!
1. What happened to the author on September 11th, 1958?| A．He got a baby brother. |
| B．He got a Christmas gift. |
| C．He became four years old. |
| D．He received a doll. |
| A．Impossible. | B．Boring. |
| C．Difficult. | D．Fearful. |
| A．Excitement. | B．Happiness. |
| C．Sadness. | D．Disappointment. |
| A．A sad Christmas day. |
| B．Life with a lovely baby. |
| C．A special Christmas gift. |
| D．Memories of a happy family. |
7 . A famous magazine, Amusement Today, does a survey among park lovers every year both in the US and overseas, based on which, “Top 5 List of the Best Amusement Parks in the World” has come out as follows:
Disneyland, California
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California, the US. More than 515 million guests have traveled to this American landmark from around the world since the park first opened to guests on July 17, 1955. The park consists of many world-famous sections, such as Main Street, Adventure land, New Orleans Square, and so on.
Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida
Magic Kingdom is a theme park within the Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, near Orlando opened on October 1, 1971. It is the most famous theme park in Florida. The park’s design and attractions don’t make much difference from Disneyland Park in Anaheim.
EPCOT, Disney World, Florida
EPCOT is the second theme park built at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. The park opened on October 1, 1982, and was named EPCOT Center from 1982 to 1993. It was the largest Disney theme park in the world until 1998, when Disney’s Animal Kingdom opened.
DisneyMGM Studios, Florida
MGM’s streets are the home for some great moviethemed attractions with a history of less than 30 years. With the addition of the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Rock and Roller Coaster, the park is now home to Disney World’s most thrilling rides.
Universal Studios, Florida
Go behind the scenes, beyond the screen and jump right into the action of your favorite movies at Universal Studios, the number one movie and TV theme park in the world.
1. Which of the following theme parks have similar attractions?| A．Disneyland & Magic Kingdom. |
| B．Disneyland & Universal Studios. |
| C．EPCOT & DisneyMGM Studios. |
| D．Magic Kingdom & Universal Studios. |
| A．Magic Kingdom, Disney World, Florida. |
| B．DisneyMGM Studios, Florida. |
| C．EPCOT, Disney World, Florida. |
| D．Disneyland, California. |
| A．To attract tourists to these theme parks. |
| B．To increase the sales of Amusement Today. |
| C．To introduce world’s best amusement parks. |
| D．To compare attractions in different theme parks. |
8 . After I made it to the city center, I started to feel it might be easy for a foreigner to deal with the great size of Beijing. With growing confidence, I decided to take the subway to the hotel, not realizing that the network didn’t go that far. Impressed with the cleanliness of the station, I bought a ticket and boarded the first subway that came along.
After a few minutes I asked in English a young man seated next to me where I should get off closest to the Friendship Hotel. Wearing a smart business suit and tie, he would surely speak English, wouldn’t he? Unfortunately, he couldn’t understand me but seemed very friendly. I showed him the room card with all the information of the Friendship Hotel in Chinese characters. He looked at it, and then his eyes moved quickly to the carriage (车厢) subway map. Next, he raised three fingers of his right hand.
In Australia, raising fingers at someone is not usually nice, but this man wasn’t smiling. At the next station he showed me two fingers. Now in Australia, that’s really rude, but I got the message. When we stopped at the third station, he didn’t just point to the door, but got up, took me out of the train, and led me to the top of the stairs, and out onto the street. Then he stopped a taxi and told the driver where to take me.
All this came from a man who couldn’t speak my language, and I couldn’t speak his. I was now speechless, especially when he refused my offer of money. I felt a little embarrassed having even thought he would accept a tip.
This experience made it clear I had to learn some Chinese quickly or my adventures might start turning into misadventures.
1. Why does the author decided to take the subway?| A．Because he believed in his ability to deal with the trip |
| B．Because the network covered most of the stops |
| C．Because he lived near the city center |
| D．Because he had a good impression of its cleanliness |
| A．still remained puzzled | B．understood the author well |
| C．answered the author directly | D．pointed at the subway map |
| A．helpful. | B．impolite. | C．warm-hearted. | D．responsible. |
| A．To prove the importance of being careful |
| B．To introduce a young man who didn’t know English |
| C．To complain some cultural misunderstanding |
| D．To describe one of his adventurous experiences |
9 . Any dog’s love can feel like a miracle (奇迹). Mason is a strong dog, and he may be the kind one that can bring happy surprise on Earth. He
That day a lot of people
Three weeks after the disaster, Mason’s family stopped by the house to collect some things that once
Mason was hurt so bad that he needed weeks to
| A．went through | B．looked for | C．died from | D．fell into |
| A．safe | B．lovely | C．lonely | D．brave |
| A．gained | B．found | C．enjoyed | D．suffered |
| A．upset | B．calm | C．grateful | D．dangerous |
| A．so that | B．even though | C．as if | D．now that |
| A．designed | B．searched | C．protected | D．rented |
| A．get | B．turn | C．end | D．hold |
| A．belonged | B．went | C．sent | D．fell |
| A．tired | B．excited | C．frightened | D．determined |
| A．find | B．decide | C．prepare | D．keep |
| A．stories | B．reasons | C．experiences | D．questions |
| A．rest | B．medicine | C．result | D．help |
| A．volunteered | B．tried | C．continued | D．struggled |
| A．leave | B．count | C．recover | D．develop |
| A．weak | B．healthy | C．clever | D．hopeful |
10 . I grew up in a house with an unusual design feature. The floor of part of the house was made of pieces of chalkboards that my father gathered from the local high school when it was repaired. He added a second large piece on the wall, too.
The result was that we always had a place to write notes, draw pictures, do quick calculations, and keep an ongoing grocery list to which anyone could contribute. The wall chalkboard was used for important notes, while the floor was most handy for messages that were meant to catch someone’s eye the moment they came in the house, things like “I’ve run out to the store, back in 30 minutes” or “Please start dinner at 5:30”.
When I was young, I thought that every house would have a large writing area, but then I moved away and realized that wasn’t the case. For years, especially since having kids, I’ve tried to keep information organized. Though my Moleskine paper planner has given some semblance (表象) of order to my life, it doesn’t make up for a good chalkboard.
But now things have changed. I’m pleased to say that a proper chalkboard has finally been fixed in my kitchen—something that should have happened years ago! My dad recently came for a visit and brought a piece of slate (石板) that fits the wall behind the door, adding a board for chalk.
All of a sudden we have an obvious place to go to store information where all family members can see it, a place where important thoughts can be written down.
I think every house should have a proper-sized chalkboard — a real slate one, if you can find it. It’s a game-changer, a family unifier, and an effective organizer. I may not have a chalkboard floor, but once again I have a chalkboard wall, and now my home feels complete.
1. What developed the author’s love for houses with a chalkboard?| A．His father’s expectation of him. | B．Usual visits to an old house. |
| C．The environment he grew up in. | D．His habit of writing something. |
| A．He was too busy to relax. |
| B．He developed an interest in chalkboards. |
| C．He grew poorer at collecting information. |
| D．He had trouble organizing information at home. |
| A．He bought slate from a school for the author. |
| B．He lived together with the author all the time. |
| C．He got a chalkboard fixed at the author’s home. |
| D．He had a chalkboard wall built in his own kitchen. |
| A．Making one healthier and wealthier. |
| B．Helping to keep the family life in order. |
| C．Increasing one’s sense of belonging. |
| D．Developing children’s interest in learning. |
