1 . What’s better than a video game that your kids can play over and over again? A membership to one of the many exciting places in Seattle that your kids visit over and over again (for a year at least). Click to join us and read on for our top picks.
Woodland Park Zoo
The Park Zoo was the most highly sought after membership by families in the Seattle area, and for good reason: there’s something for everyone! In addition to the hundreds of animals found throughout the 92 acres, there are plenty of outdoor spaces to run around (including playgrounds).
Tel: 206-5428-2500
Online: zoo.org
Annual Membership: $69/Flexible Guest Adult; $49/Named Adult; $19/Child; Under 2 Free
Point Defiance Zoo
Point Defiance Zoo is the only combined zoo and aquarium in the Pacific Northwest spread out over 29 acres. Your kids will enjoy getting up close and personal to the live sharks, riding a camel and exploring the interactive Kids’ Zone.
Tel: 253-591-5337
Online: pdza.org
Annual Membership: $124/Household; $105/Two adults; $24/Child
Seattle Aquarium
The Aquarium is particularly great for any budding environmentalists in your family who want to learn more about conservation efforts that affect the waters in the Pacific Northwest.
Tel: 206-386-4300
Online: seattleaquarium.org
Annual Membership: $189/Family Plus (2 adults, 5 children, 1 guest); $149/Family (2 adults, 5 children)
Museum of Flight
The Museum is the perfect indoor place to free your kids to dream big about the wide world. With all sorts of planes that you can see, touch and climb inside, this museum fulfills your flight dream.
Tel: 206-764-5700
Online: museumofflight.org
Annual Membership: $100/Family; $75/Two Adults
1. What do these places have in common?| A．They are all in Seattle. | B．Kids can see animals there. |
| C．They all have outdoor activities. | D．Members can get free admission. |
| A．Woodland Park Zoo. | B．Point Defiance Zoo. |
| C．Seattle Aquarium. | D．Museum of Flight. |
| A．$117. | B．$124. |
| C．$129. | D．$148. |
2 . Got 48 hours to relax yourself? You’ll make full use of your timeand have great fun at these amazing destinations.
Alabama: Gulf Shores
For relaxing weekend getaways in Alabama, head south to the white-sand beaches of Gulf Shores. Get on the water for some deep-sea fishing. History lovers can get a lesson in the Civil War along a 90-mile path with more than a dozen historic sites.
Alaska: Homer
How does fresh seafood sound? You’ll find it in Homer, located in south-central Alaska, which is either a short flight or a great four-hour scenic drive on the Seward Highway from Anchorage. Get your fill of fishing in Kachemak Bay, explore local trails and enjoy exceptional birding in this remote natural setting.
Arizona: Sedona
Adventurous types can get their fill in the magical red rocks of Sedona, which is said to be the location of healing centers of energy. People flood to the area to meditate, practice yoga and more. Sedona also offers fantastic hiking, off-roading, biking, and even climbing.
Arkansas: Hot Springs
Relax and renew in Arkansas’ hot waters in Hot Springs, an art community with Art Deco architecture that is also the home of Hot Springs National Park. Make time for a visit to Bathhouse Row, a National Historic Landmark of eight bathhouses, and Superior Bathhouse Brewery, which produces beer made of the hot spring water inside the National Park. Don’t miss these National Parks that are off the beaten path.
1. Which activity can be found in both Gulf Shores and Homer?| A．Going fishing. | B．Taking a flight. |
| C．Enjoying beautiful birds. | D．Visiting historic sites. |
| A．Its bathhouses. | B．Its paths. |
| C．Its self-made beer. | D．Its architecture. |
| A．A diary. | B．A survey. | C．A novel. | D．A magazine. |
3 . ZOOKEEPER FOR A DAY
Go wild with an extreme zookeeping experience!
The Khaki Extreme program is a wild behind-the-scenes zookeeping adventure like no other! The program offers the chance for 11-15 year olds to see first-hand what’s involved in looking after amazing wildlife at Australia Zoo.
During the guided adventures, you’ll gain an understanding and appreciation of what’s involved in working in one of the world’s most popular zoological and conservation areas, and you’ll love getting up close with the awesome animals.
Whether it’s helping keepers prepare diets for the animals, cleaning enclosures (围场) for large animals, or making improved activities for Australia Zoo’s wildlife — you will have a chance to get involved at grass-roots level.
After a busy morning getting up close with wildlife, you can enjoy a specially provided lunch while watching the performance in the world-famous Crocoseum. Then you’ll also receive a guided behind-the-scenes tour of the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. Here you’ll see the kind veterinary (兽医的) team treating sick and injured native wildlife, and you’ll learn what you can do to protect Australia’s native wild animals.
Every season is different and so is our Zookeeper for a Day Khaki Extreme program! We’ll change the animals and activities each school holiday period to keep it exciting, but with so many great animals on offer, the Khaki Extreme program is always a bunch of fun.
If reptiles (爬行动物) are more your thing, check our Zookeeper for a Day Khaki Extreme Reptile program. Here you’ll have a wild day out with some of Australia Zoo’s most scaly (有鳞屑的) and slippery friends. This program may not be available every school holiday period and program dates will be limited. Check the booking page for further details on availability.
* www.australiazoo.com.au
*Open daily 9:00 am—5:00 pm
*Bedtime for some of our animals is 4:30 pm.
*Closed Christmas Day
1. What’s the main purpose of the Khaki Extreme program?| A．To help save endangered wildlife. |
| B．To offer a chance to feed native wildlife. |
| C．To experience a real zookeeper’s life. |
| D．To learn how to treat injured animals. |
| A．Make a special lunch for yourself. |
| B．Clean enclosures for large animals. |
| C．Give a performance in the Crocoseum. |
| D．Visit the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. |
| A．It’s not always available. |
| B．It’s often closed at 4:30 pm. |
| C．It’s still open on Christmas Day. |
| D．It’s very popular among all the students. |
4 . Some cities and lawmakers are resisting crime-fighting tech owing to bias (偏见) and accuracy concerns. Police departments around the U.S. are asking citizens to trust them to use facial recognition software as a handy tool in their crime-fighting toolbox. But some lawmakers — and even some technology giants — are against it.
Take the western Massachusetts city of Springfield, where many residents are Latino or black. Springfield police say they have no plans to use facial recognition systems, but some City Council members are moving to block any future government use of the technology anyway.
At an October hearing on the subject, Springfield City Councilman, Orlando Ramos, defended the technology. “The facial recognition technology does not drop a net from the sky and put you to prison,” he said, noting that it could serve as a useful investigative tool. However, he doesn’t want to take any risks. “It would only lead to more racial discrimination.” he said, citing studies that found higher error rates for facial recognition software used to identify women and people with darker skins.
Similar debates across the country are highlighting racial issues and concerns about the technology’s accuracy. Axon, which supplies body-worn cameras nationwide, had already formed an artificial intelligence ethics board (伦理委员会)that concluded facial recognition technology isn’t yet dependable enough to justify its use on police cameras. Axon Chief Executive Rick Smith said, “Even if facial recognition software was perfectly accurate, the ability to track people raises privacy concerns. “Do we want everybody who walks near a police officer to get their face identified and logged in a database?” he said.
Nevertheless, Todd Pastorini, general manager at biometric forensics (生物取证) company DataWorks Plus, said it’s the “extremely effective” method of running images through photos to help identify a suspect. “Society and the public are going to get frustrated, if governments refuse to adopt a technology that keeps improving”, he said. In his eyes, facial recognition hits are just one part of an investigation.
1. What is Orlando Ramos’ attitude towards facial recognition?| A．Hopeful. | B．Cautious. | C．Ambiguous. | D．Tolerant. |
| A．Gender discrimination. | B．Speed limit. |
| C．Accuracy rate. | D．Steadiness control. |
| A．It appears to cause prejudice. | B．It brings about privacy concerns. |
| C．Its technology is reliable. | D．Its accuracy needs improving. |
| A．Facial recognition tool meets with resistance. |
| B．All the people disapprove of facial recognition. |
| C．Facial recognition is the only tool of investigation. |
| D．Governments should ban facial recognition. |
5 . In October, I told the eight-year-olds in my class about my plan. “I’d like all of you to do
Early in Thanksgiving week, the boys and girls arrived in the
“Flowers!”, Kristine cried. The group
Stuck in the middle was a pot of purple mums. “She’ll like this one.” the children
We finally
My little group hurried to get the food. As each box was carried in, the old woman oohed and aahed (欢天喜地) — much to her visitors’
We returned to the car. We could see the kitchen
The children were quiet. In that one brief moment, they had seen for themselves the
| A．hard | B．extra | C．spare | D．unique |
| A．otherwise | B．always | C．occasionally | D．however |
| A．house | B．classroom | C．street | D．supermarket |
| A．shopping | B．job | C．business | D．task |
| A．1ooked | B．came | C．rushed | D．made |
| A．chose | B．moved | C．admired | D．agreed |
| A．pulled up | B．picked up | C．sped up | D．called on |
| A．1ead | B．welcome | C．accept | D．answer |
| A．surprise | B．disappointment | C．relaxation | D．pleasure |
| A．wishing | B．discovering | C．finding | D．waiting |
| A．smoke | B．window | C．shelf | D．glass |
| A．hello | B．gratitude | C．goodbye | D．thanks |
| A．door | B．flour | C．flowers | D．woods |
| A．smile | B．tear | C．color | D．change |
| A．help | B．power | C．attitude | D．youth |
6 . Caves (洞穴) have a primary appeal — they hold the secrets to our past and are mysterious in and of themselves.
● Mammoth Cave
Kentucky, USA
The longest cave system in the world lies beneath the Green River Valley in Kentucky and while over 400 miles of passageways have been mapped, it has yet to be fully discovered. The complex limestone labyrinth (石灰岩迷宫) was discovered by humans 4,000 years ago.
● Blue Grotto
Capri, Italy
Once used as the personal swimming hole for the Roman Emperor Tiberius, this extremely bright sea cave is almost 200 feet long and 82 feet wide. Its unique glow comes from the light entering the small opening to the outside.
● Avshalom Cave Nature Reserve
Beit Shemesh, Israel
Also known as the Soreq Cave Nature Reserve, Avshalom is considered to be the Rosetta Stone of climate history in the Eastern Mediterranean through the packed stalactites (钟乳石) found in the cave, some of which are over 13 feet long, and are as old as 300,000 years.
● Cave of the Crystals
Naica, Mexico
This unique cave system in Mexico contains some of the largest natural crystals (水晶) ever found—the longest of which is 39 feet long and 13 feet thick. However, it is rarely explored due to logistical difficulties: it is extremely hot due to its location above a volcanic vent, and the huge crystals block also block the passage.
1. Where does the longest cave lie in?| A．Kentucky, USA. | B．Capri, Italy. |
| C．Beit Shemesh, Israel. | D．Naica, Mexico. |
| A．the most beautiful cave. | B．the Soreq Cave Nature Reserve. |
| C．the Emperor’s swimming hole. | D．over 400 miles of passageways. |
| A．Cave of the Crystals. | B．Blue Grotto. |
| C．Mammoth Cave. | D．Avshalom Cave Nature Reserve. |
7 . Welcome to Franklin Hotel. To make you stay as enjoyable as possible, we hope you will use our facilities（设施）to the full.
Dining Room: Breakfast is served in the dining room from 8 to 9:30 Also the room staff may bring breakfast to your room at any time after 7 a.m. If this happens, please fill out a card and hang outside your door when you go to bed. Lunch is from 12 to 2:30 p, m. Dinner is from 7:30 to 9 p. m.
Room Service: This operates 24 hours a day; phone the Reception desk, and your message will be passed on to the staff.
Telephones: To make a phone call, dial 0 for Reception and ask to be connected. We apologized for delays as the lines are very busy. There are also public telephones near the Reception desk. Tell Reception if early calls are needed.
Shop: The hotel shop is open for presents, gifts and goods from 9 a. m. to 5:30 p. m.
Laundry: We have a laundry in the building, and will wash, iron and return your clothes within 24 hours, ask the room staff to collect them.
Bar: The hotel bar is open from 12 to 2 p. m. and 7 p. m. to 1 a. m.
Banking: The Reception staff will cash cheques and exchange any foreign money for you.
1. You would see this notice____.| A．in a hotel bar |
| B．in a hotel dining room |
| C．in a bedroom of a large international hotel |
| D．at the entrance of a small family hotel |
| A．go to your room and phone from there. |
| B．use one of the phones in the entrance hall |
| C．ask the Reception desk to help you |
| D．go out and look for a public phone box |
| A．the hotel offers at least seven kinds of services |
| B．it's too difficult to stay up in this hotel |
| C．you can shop at any time inside the hotel |
| D．you'll have trouble without the money of the country where the hotel lies |
8 . By the end of the year, editors of New York Times have picked the 4 best books of 2019, including fiction and non-fiction. Let’s see which one will take your fancy.
Disappearing Earth
By Julia Phillips
In the first chapter of this novel, two young girls vanish, sending shock waves through a town on the edge of the remote and mysterious Kamchatka Peninsula. What follows is a novel of overlapping short stories about the different women who have been affected by their disappearance. Each tale pushes the narrative forward another month and exposes the ways in which the women of Kamchatka have been destroyed — personally, culturally and emotionally — by the crime.
No Visible Bruises
By Rachel Louise Snyder
Snyder’s thoroughly reported book covers what the World Health Organization has called “a global health problem”. In America alone, more than half of all murdered women are killed by a current or former life partner; domestic violence cuts across lines of class, religion and race. Snyder reveals pervasive myths (restraining orders are the answer, abusers never change) and writes movingly about the lives (and deaths) of people on both sides of the equation. She doesn’t give easy answers but presents a wealth of information that is its own form of hope.
Midnight in Chernobyl
By Adam Higginbotham
Higginbotham’s superb account of the April 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is one of those rare books about science and technology that read like a tension-filled thriller. Filled with vivid detail and sharply etched personalities, this narrative of astonishing incompetence moves from mistake to mistake, miscalculation to miscalculation, as it builds to the inevitable, history-changing disaster.
Exhalation
By Ted Chiang
Many of the nine deeply beautiful stories in this collection explore the material consequences of time travel. Reading them feels like sitting at dinner with a friend who explains scientific theory to you with no airs and graces. Each thoughtful, elegantly crafted story poses a philosophical question; Chiang arranges all nine into a conversation that comes full circle, after having travelled through remarkable areas.
1. Which of the following tells about the violence from a husband to a wife in a family?| A．Disappearing Earth | B．No Visible Bruises |
| C．Midnight in Chernobyl | D．Exhalation |
| A．Delighted. | B．Awkward. |
| C．Tense. | D．Calm. |
| A．A folk tale. | B．A biography. |
| C．A love story. | D．A sci-fi story. |
9 . Living on mountainous La Gomera, one of Spain’s Canary Islands off West Africa, Juan Cabello takes pride in not using a mobile phone or the Internet to communicate. Like his father and grandfather, he uses Silbo Gomero, a language that is whistled (吹口哨), not spoken, and that can be heard more than two miles away.
“I use it for everything: to talk to my wife, to tell my kids something, to find a friend if we get lost in a crowd,” Cabello says. “I also make a living from Silbo, performing daily exhibitions at a restaurant.”
People throughout La Gomera are known to have used Silbo in the past as a way of communicating over long distances. A strong whistle saved farmers from walking over the hills to give messages or news to neighbors. Then came the phone. Nowadays, it’s hard to know how many people still use Silbo. In 1999, it was introduced as a compulsory subject (必修学科) in La Gomera’s primary schools, in an effort to prevent the language from going silent. Now 3,000 students are studying it, but only a few people are believed to be able to communicate fully in the whistling language.
“Silbo is said to be the most important cultural heritage (遗产) we have,” said Moises Plasencia, the director of the Canary Islands’ government’s historical heritage department.
In fact, little is known about Silbo’s origins. Silbo-like whistling has been found in parts of Greece, Turkey, China and Mexico, but none is as developed as Silbo Gomero. One study is looking for signs of Silbo in Venezuela, Cuba and Texas, all places to which Gomerans have gone in the past during hard economic times.
“Silbo has many historical and linguistic (语言学上的) values,” Plasencia said. And, as Cabello explains, “It’s good for just about anything except for romance: everyone on the island would hear what you’re saying!”
1. Juan Cabello uses Silbo Gomero _____.| A．in his daily life. | B．to learn computers. |
| C．just to make a living. | D．only when eating at restaurants. |
| A．It first started in Greece. | B．It is in danger of dying out. |
| C．It is helpful in keeping secrets. | D．It is the oldest way of communicating. |
| A．know the origins of Silbo Gomero. | B．find the values of Silbo Gomero. |
| C．have more cultural heritages. | D．protect Silbo Gomero. |
| A．A school’s subject. | B．A famous performer. |
| C．An unusual language. | D．A mountainous island. |
10 . 1. Macao Tower AJ Hackett Bungee Jump
The Macao Tower, 338 meters tall, is the world's 10th highest tower, with a variety of activities, such as gambling, eating and entertainment. One of the famous activities is the bungee jump. The AJ Hackett Macao Tower Bungee Jump is 233 meters high, making it a Guinness World Record as the highest commercial bungee jump in the world. Raise your arms and off you go! If you are not daring enough to jump that height, you can try the skywalk on the 57th floor - it's still remarkable. Grab this chance and tick off this item on your bucket list.
2. Grab a traditional Portuguese dinner
Macao was colonized by Portugal before 1999. As a result, Portuguese culture is deeply into many corners of Macao. Many Portuguese settled and opened Portuguese restaurants in the special administrative region, but the flavor is more adaptable to Chinese people.
3. Visit a museum
Macao, as a tiny little city with only an area of 30.5 square kilometers, has 23 eye-catching museums. Due to its unique history, both Eastern and Western historical sites can be found. Many of them are preserved for cultural heritage, tourist spots or museums, such as the Grand Prix Museum, Maritime Museum and Wine Museum.
4. Selfie(自拍) at the Ruins of St. Paul
The Ruins of St. Paul is the signature landmark of Macao. The ruins consist of the St. Paul's College and the Church of St. Paul, built in 1583. However, after three fires in 1595, 1601 and 1835, the church was seriously damaged. Surprisingly, after the rebuilding and fires, the huge front part and the front stairway remain unburned.
1. Which of the following is NOT true about Macao Tower according to the passage？| A．There are many activities in Macao Tower. |
| B．The bungee jump there holds a record in the world. |
| C．It is a thrilling place to go. |
| D．The skywalk is 233 meters high. |
| A．Cultural heritage is preserved here. |
| B．It has experienced several fires. |
| C．It is totally ruined by the fires. |
| D．It is still well reserved. |
| A．The historical sites in Macao. |
| B．How to make a tour in Macao. |
| C．Things that you can’t miss in Macao. |
| D．Seeing is believing. |
