1 . San Francisco Fire Engine Tours
San Francisco Winery TourRunning: February 1st through April 30th
This delicious tour goes through the city on its way to Treasure Island where we will stop at the famous Winery SF. Here you can enjoy 4 pours of some of the best wine San Francisco has to offer.(Included in tickets price)
Departing from the Cannery: Tour times upon request.Duration(时长): 2 hours
Price: $90
Back to the Fifties Tour
Running: August 16th through August 31st
This tour transports you back in time to one of San Francisco’s most fantastic periods, the 1950s! Enjoy fun history as we take you through San Francisco for a free taste of ice cream.
Departing from the Cannery: 5:00 pm and 7:30 pmDuration: 2 hours
Price: $90
Spooky Halloween Tour
Running: October 10th through October 31st
Join us for a ride through the historical Presidio district. Authentic fire gear(服装) is provided for your warmth as our entertainers take you to some of the most thrilling parts of San Francisco.
Departing from the Cannery: 6:30 pm and 8:30 pmDuration: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Price: Available upon request
Holiday Lights Tour
Running: December 6th through December 23rd
This attractive tour takes you to some of San Francisco’s most cheerful holiday scenes. Authentic fire gear is provided for your warmth as you get into the holiday spirit.
Departing from the Cannery: 7:00 pm and 9:00 pmDuration: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Advance reservations required.
1. Which of the tours is available in March?
| A．San Francisco Winery Tour. | B．Back to the Fifties Tour. |
| C．Spooky Hallowen Tour. | D．Holiday Lights Tour. |
| A．Go to Treasure Island. | B．Enjoy the holiday scenes. |
| C．Have free ice cream. | D．Visit the Presidio district. |
| A．Take some drinks. | B．Set off early in the morning. |
| C．Wear warm clothes. | D．Make reservations in advance. |
2 . My dad doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would bake great bread, but he is and he does. Every Saturday he produces homemade bread. When he’s done, the whole house smells delicious.
The rest of the week, Dad fixes cars at work. The shop where Dad works is running so well that he is always occupied. He is under a lot of stress. I think Dad began baking bread to help him relax.
I’ve been feeling kind of stressed out myself since I found out I didn’t make the school swim team. Now I’ll have to wait a whole year to try out again. Plus, I’m taking some difficult classes this year.
I think Dad knew I was feeling bad. Last Saturday he asked me how things were going. I said OK, even though I didn’t feel OK at all. He looked at me for a moment, and then he said it was time for me to help. Then he headed to the kitchen.
I followed right behind him. Once we were there, Dad got out his big mixing bowl, handed me a large wooden spoon, and told me to mix while he added the ingredients. Dad isn’t big on measuring. He knows how much of each ingredient to use, and the bread always turns out great.
When I finished stirring, Dad showed me how to knead the dough (揉面团). Next came the most difficult part — doing nothing. We put the dough back into the bowl and then we waited for more than an hour for the dough to slowly rise and double in size. Next, we divided it into two and waited for it to rise again. Afterward, we put the dough into pans and waited another hour for the dough to rise and double.
Dad said the waiting is always the hardest part. “It’s hard to resist putting the dough directly into the oven, but if you do, the bread will be hard. The most important lesson of all is learning to be.” Dad taught me more than how to bake bread.
1. What can we learn about the author’s father?| A．He is living a relaxing life. | B．He tries his best to make ends meet. |
| C．He has a special way to deal with stress. | D．He is more like a baker than a mechanic. |
| A．School isn’t going well. | B．She dislikes making bread. |
| C．She feels sorry for her father. | D．Some classes aren’t worth it. |
| A．Dad is unskilled. | B．Dad dislikes measuring. |
| C．Dad has a craze for measuring. | D．Dad is careful about ingredients. |
| A．Never give up. | B．Take life easily. |
| C．Believe in yourself. | D．Enjoy time with family. |
3 . Donna Strickland was awarded the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics jointly with Arthur Ashkin and Gérard Mourou.It’s the first time in 55 years that a woman has won this famous prize, but why has it taken so long? We look at five other pioneering female physicists — past and present — who actually deserve the prize.
Jocelyn Bell Burnell
Perhaps the most famous snub (冷落): the student Bell discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967, when she was a PhD student at Cambridge.The Nobel Prize that recognised this landmark discovery in 1974, however, went to her male supervisor, Antony Hewish.Recently awarded a £2.3 million Breakthrough Prize, which she gave away to help under-represented students, she joked to The Guardian, “I feel I’ve done very well out of not getting a Nobel Prize.”
Lene Hau
Hau is best-known for leading the research team at Harvard University in 1999 that managed to slow a beam of light, before managing to stop it completely in 2001.Often topping Nobel Prize prediction lists, could 2019 be Hau’s year.
Vera Rubin
Rubin discovered dark matter in the 1980s, opening up a new field of astronomy.She died in 2016, without recognition from the committee.
Chien-Shiung Wu
Wu’s “Wu experiment” helped disprove the “law of conservation of parity”.Her experimental work was helpful but never honoured, and instead, her male colleagues won the 1957 Nobel Prize for their theoretical work behind the study.
Lise Meitner
Meitner led groundbreaking work on the discovery of nuclear fission.However, the discovery was acknowledged by the 1944 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which was won by her male co-lead, Otto Hahn.
1. When was the discovery of radio pulsars recognised by the Nobel?| A．In 1944． | B．In 1967． | C．In 1974． | D．In 1980． |
| A．Donna Strickland. | B．Jocelyn Bell Burnell. |
| C．Lene Hau. | D．Vera Rubin. |
| A．The five female scientists did greatly in chemistry. |
| B．Vera Rubin had opened up a new field in geometry. |
| C．Lise Meitner’s teacher won a Nobel Prize for her work. |
| D．The five female scientists haven’t been awarded Nobel Prize. |
4 . A new APP uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to tell you what your pet is thinking. It’s called Happy Pets and it analyses an animal’s facial features, tells you what breed(血统) it is and indicates which of the five most common animal emotions—happy, angry, neutral, sad and scared.
The Happy Pets app uses AI, or machine learning. It’s a technology that’s used for vision in robotics and self-driving cars and it works by taking in images and assigning importance to them. One common use for AI is in facial recognition technology. Many of us can unlock our mobile phones with an image of our face and it’s important part of security processes in, for instance, airports.
But this is the first time this kind of technology has been used for animals. It then had to learn to recognize facial features. This is sophisticated because photos can be taken in so many different ways: from the side, above, below, in bright light. And different animals can have such different facial features. Think about how different the noses of a border collie(边境牧羊犬) and bulldog are, for instance. Once the AI behind Happy Pets had learned all this, it then had to be able to detect emotions based on specific facial features that are associated with each emotion, which it has learned from thousands of examples. For instance, if a dog tightens its eyes and mouth while changing the position of its ears in a particular way, it’s a sign of being scared.
In an online article for Melbourne University’s Pursuit, the researchers write they’re happy with how the app performs. The researchers would love feedback about how they could develop the app further.
1. Which of the following may go beyond Happy Pets’ function?| A．Learning the kinds of pets. |
| B．Showing pets’ main feelings. |
| C．Teaching pets’ facial recognition. |
| D．Analyzing the pets’ facial features. |
| A．The robot’s eye. | B．A security system. |
| C．The vision of self driving. | D．A machine learning system. |
| A．Typical. | B．Complex. | C．Scientific. | D．Traditional. |
| A．Because faces can definitely show animals feelings. |
| B．Because it wants to have emotions of humans. |
| C．Because it enables Happy Pets to detect emotions based on specific facial features. |
| D．Because the types of animals are based on the looks. |
5 . It was my first day at school in London and I was half-excited and half-frightened. On my way to school I wondered, what questions the other boys would ask me and practiced all the answers: “I am nine years old. I was born here but I haven’t lived here since I was two. I was living in Farley. It’s about thirty miles away. I came back to London two months ago.” I also wondered if it was the rule for boys to fight strangers like me, but I was tall for my age. I hoped they would decide not to risk it.
No one took any notice of me before school. I stood in the center of the playground, expecting someone to say “hello”, but no one spoke to me.
My teacher was called Mr. Jones. There were 42 boys in the class, so I didn’t stand out there either, until the first lesson of the afternoon. Mr. Jones was very fond of Charles Dickens, so he asked several boys if they knew Dickens’ birthplace, but no one guessed right. A boy called Brian, the biggest in the class, said: “Timbuktu” and Mr. Jones went red in the face. Then he asked me. I said: “Portsmouth” and everyone stared at me because Mr. Jones said I was right. This didn’t make me very popular, of course. “He thinks he’s clever,” I heard Brian say.
After that, we went out to the playground to play football. I was in Brian’s team, and he obviously had Dickens in mind because he told me to go in goal. No one ever wanted to be the goalkeeper.
“He’s big enough and useless enough,” Brian said when someone asked him why he had chosen me.
As the boy kicked the ball hard along the ground to my right, I threw myself down quickly and saved it. All my team crowded round me. My bare knees were grazed and bleeding. Brian took out a handkerchief and offered it to me.
“Do you want to join my team?” he said.
At the end of the day, I was no longer a stranger.
1. The writer prepared to answer all of the following questions EXCEPT “________”.| A．How old are you? | B．Where are you from? |
| C．Do you want to join my team? | D．When did you come back to London? |
| A．boys were usually unfriendly to new students | B．the writer was not greeted as he expected |
| C．Brian praised the writer for his cleverness | D．the writer was glad to be a goalkeeper |
| A．eye-catching | B．nervous | C．important | D．surprised |
| A．he was in Brian’s team | B．he was no longer a new comer |
| C．he was beginning to be accepted | D．he pushed a player on the other team |
6 . Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.
Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1, 500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a $10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use email to “speak” with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fastfood restaurant or under the trees — anywhere at all!
Because of the many changes in computer technology, laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State highereducation officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.
At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, “Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we’re giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything.”
1. The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to ________.| A．use for their schoolwork |
| B．access the Internet |
| C．work at home |
| D．connect them to libraries |
| A．All teachers use computers. |
| B．1, 500 students have laptops. |
| C．It is an old college in America. |
| D．Students there can do everything. |
| A．attend lectures on information technology |
| B．travel around the world |
| C．get information from around the world |
| D．have free laptops |
| A．The program is successful. |
| B．The program is not workable. |
| C．The program is too expensive. |
| D．We don’t know the result yet. |
7 . China Small Group Tours
◆Tour Route 1: 11 Days Private Beijing - Lhasa - Xi’an - Shanghai
Tour Highlights:
Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors
Follow us on a Buddhist pilgrimage to Tibet & appreciate the profound culture
Have a leisurely walk or an exciting bicycle ride on the time-honored City Wall of Xi’an
View the soaring city skylines and feel the pulse of modern Shanghai
From $ 2, 459 per person
◆Tour Route 2: 11 Days Private Beijing - Xi’an - Chonqing - Yangtze River Cruise - Yichang - Shanghai
Tour Highlights:
Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Wariors
Try biking on the Ming Dynasty City Wall of Xi’ an, or tour by electric car
Enjoy the Three Gorges (三峡) scenery on Yangtze River & feel totally relaxed
From $ 1, 879 per person
◆Tour Route 3: 12 Days Private Beijing - Shanghai - Xi’an - Guilin - Yangshuo - Guilin - Hong
Kong
Tour Highlights:
Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors
Experience the Bund, classical garden, modern and old in contrast in Shanghai
Feel the lively atmosphere & explore busy markets freely in Hong Kong
Walk into a local family, learn to cook Chinese food & dine with the hosts in their home
From $ 2, 499 per person
◆Tour Route 4: 12 Days Private Beijing - Xi’an - Chengdu - Guilin - Shanghai
Tour Highlights:
Must-see sights in China — the Great Wall, Forbidden City, Terracotta Warriors, Giant Pandas
Come to Chengdu, the hometown of giant pandas to visit and observe the cute creature
Cruise on the meandering Li River & admire Guilin landscape
Walk into a local Chinese family, interact & dine with the hosts in their home
From $2, 079 per person
1. What do Tour Route 1 and Tour Route 2 have in common?| A．They have cycling activities. |
| B．They include a visit to Tibet. |
| C．Visitors enjoy the Three Gorges scenery. |
| D．Visitors pay the same amount of money. |
| A．Tourists can travel by bike. |
| B．Tourists can visit a huge dam. |
| C．Tourists can dine with a family. |
| D．It is the most expensive of the four. |
| A．Tour Route 1. |
| B．Tour Route 2. |
| C．Tour Route 3. |
| D．Tour Route 4. |
8 . An 82-year-old Chinese female pilot has set a record in the country’s airline industry after flying a small plane for 40 minutes in Beijing. Miao Xiaohong, one of China’s second team of female pilots, controlled the Tecnam P2010 plane to take off, turn, climb, dive and land safety at the Shifosi Airport in Pinggu District of Beijing.
In 1956, Miao Xiaohong, who graduated from a high school in Jinan, won a position in the second team. She graduated from the flight school in 1958. in the following years, she flew many important missions. In 1963, she undertook a mission to airdrop materials for the flood-stricken areas in Hebei Province. Poor visibility prevented her locating the target areas as the clouds were about 100 meters above the ground, but she managed to finish the task.
In 1989, she retired and started her writing career. When she collected material for her books, she found that many aged pilots in other countries still flew, and she had the idea of returning to the sky. To prepare for the flight, she walked 3,000 steps every day and moved her arms to meet the requirements for the high-altitude flight. Different from past flights for missions, this time her goal was to enjoy the flight. She said that it was exciting and fresh. “Seeing the boundless blue sky unfold in front of me, I feel it is very open,” she said.
The trainer said that Miao Xiaohong could finish the 30-hour flight to get a license for commercial flights. She said, “My physical condition is good enough to finish the 30-hour flight but it is not so important for me to get such a license. After achieving my dream of returning to the sky, I hope to encourage young women to join the airline industry. I’m 82 years old and I can fly again. You, the young people, can fly and will fly better than me.
1. What can we learn from the airdrop mission carried out by Miao Xiaohong?| A．She was a very beautiful pilot. | B．She had excellent flying skills. |
| C．She suffered from poor eyesight. | D．She usually completed hard tasks. |
| A．Her deep love for flights. | B．Her wish to set a flying record. |
| C．The requirements of her books. | D．The influence of other aged pilots. |
| A．Faithful. | B．Energetic. | C．Determined. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．Returning to the blue sky | B．Coming to join in the flight |
| C．Managing to finish difficult tasks | D．Improving yourself to set a record |
Horses are picky eaters
Horses have an even better sense of smell than humans do. When horses raise their noses and open their nostrils (鼻孔), their nervous system allows them to sense smells we can’t sense. This might explain why they refuse dirty water and carefully move around meadows, eating only the tastiest grasses, experts say.
Whale says thanks
In 2018, a whale expert spotted a humpback whale trapped in a fishing net and spent an hour freeing it. Afterward, in an hour-long display of thanks, the whale swam near their boat and leaped into the air about 40 times.
Pandas like to be naughty
Is there anything more lovely than a baby panda, except maybe a human baby? In fact, baby pandas sometimes behave like human babies. They sleep in the same positions and value their thumbs. Pandas are shy by nature for its shy behaviors such as covering its face with a paw or ducking its head when confronted by a stranger.
A cat honors its owner
Paper towels, and a plastic cup are just a few of the gifts that Toldo, a devoted three-year-old gray-and-white cat, has placed on his former owner Iozzelli Renzo’s grave every day since the man died in September 2018. Renzo adopted Toldo from a shelter when the cat was three months old, and the two formed an inseparable bond. After Renzo passed away, Toldo followed the coffin to the cemetery, and now “stands guard” the grave for hours at a time.
1. What can horses do to pick delicious grasses?| A．Feel them. |
| B．Taste them. |
| C．Smell them. |
| D．Observe them. |
| A．They are clever. |
| B．They have a grateful heart. |
| C．They are active and lovely. |
| D．They have a good sense of smell. |
| A．The whale |
| B．The cat. |
| C．The horse. |
| D．The panda. |
10 . I came to the United States ten years ago. I would always say that I was trying to study, but there were always things like work and my kids that would not allow me to start.
Now I realized that those were only excuses. What stopped me was that I was afraid to start studying again. I always believed I would learn by myself.
One day, however, my son told me that he was sad because his friends would come over and I didn’t understand them because I didn’t speak English. He was also sad because I could never help him with his homework. That same day, I told myself, “Rocio, you have to start believing in yourself and you will see you can make it.”
The next day, I went downtown to look for a big banner (横幅) in front of the school which said that they offered classes for adults. I came in to see if I could join, but the classes were closed already. That night I took the kids to the movies, and on the way back, I told them we would take a new route. I ended up getting lost. That’s the way I found Chaffey College. The following Monday, I went to ask for information. They told me that summer school was starting that week.
That’s how I started studying English last summer. It is difficult, but I have had great rewards. My daughter had written a story for school. It was about the female they most admired and why. She wrote that I was the person she most admired because I had started going to college. I will never forget this.
1. According to the passage, the author probably is a ________.| A．teacher | B．doctor | C．father | D．mother |
| A．What her son said. |
| B．What her daughter said. |
| C．Thinking about herself. |
| D．Thinking about her daughter. |
| A．On the way to the movies. |
| B．They took a new route and got lost. |
| C．Ask a stranger for information. |
| D．According to the banner. |
| A．The author came to the United States from another country. |
| B．The author had two children including one daughter. |
| C．What really changed the author’s life was that she believed in herself. |
| D．The author wrote that she was the person her son most admired. |
