1 . Stages of Hurricane: Simple Storms Grow Into Giants
A storm progresses through four different stages before it is actually considered a hurricane. First is a tropical disturbance (热带扰动), which has thunderstorms and rotating (旋转) winds. Next is a tropical depression (热带低气压), which is similar to a tropical disturbance, but has winds between 23 and 39 miles per hour. A tropical storm is the next level, which has stronger wind speeds between 40and 73 miles per hour. Once winds reach 74 miles per hour the storm is officially called a hurricane. The wind picks up energy from the warm surface ocean water.
As a hurricane crosses over land, it begins to become weaker or break apart and reduce in strength. This is because it is no longer over the warm ocean water that it needs for energy. At this point, a hurricane can still cause a lot of damage because of high winds, rain, and flooding. But unless it makes its way back over the open ocean, it is downgraded from a hurricane back to a tropical storm.
What’s Your Name, Hurricane?
Hurricanes and tropical storms are given names to help people recognize them. Scientists refer to hurricanes and storms by name as they track them across the ocean.
Before 1953, hurricanes were not given official names. From 1953 through 1978, hurricanes were only given female names, like Isabel, Camille, Claudette, and Wilma. Beginning in 1979, hurricanes were given the names of both women and men. Today, the names alternate male and female, and they are named in order of letters.
For example, in 2010, storms were named as follows: Alex (male), Bonnie (female), Colin (male), Danielle (female), Earl (male) and so on…
There are six different lists of names that change, so the same names are used every six years. The only way that a new name is added is when a hurricane has been particularly deadly or costly and the name is retired, then replaced with a new one.
1. Which of the following is the right order of stages of a hurricane?| A．Tropical depression, tropical disturbance, tropical storm, hurricane |
| B．Tropical disturbance, tropical depression, tropical storm, hurricane |
| C．Tropical storm, tropical depression, tropical disturbance, hurricane |
| D．Tropical storm, tropical disturbance, tropical depression, hurricane |
| A．It breaks apart and forms tornadoes. | B．It returns to the ocean afterwards. |
| C．It moves more quickly. | D．It becomes less powerful. |
| A．take turns between | B．carry or |
| C．come from | D．cause trouble to |
| A．Six common hurricane names are often used. |
| B．An old name will be replaced every year. |
| C．Most of them are deadly and costly. |
| D．They didn’t have official names until 1953. |
2 . I am a parent of a disabled teenager. My son is in and out of hospital and school. His learning disabilities and behaviour issues are a barrier for him, and he is teased on campus. At home, he swears and punches me.
He is on a waiting list for his disorder which contributes to his anxiety. Meanwhile, there are hospital appointments to manage, at least four consultants on the go, and an imminent transfer to adult services. The bureaucracy of caring keeps me busy.
I used to work in the theatre industry but had to quit when my son kept getting excluded from school. I never expected that my life would turn out like this. But now, amazingly, I am doing a PhD at a Russell Group university，looking at nonwhite protagonists in historical drama. It is fascinating: underrepresented characters!Hidden histories! Diversity!
I am starting to win awards for my research and I feel like a success story. Almost. There's just one problem: I can't get funding. I keep missing out on studentships and scholarships. These awards—which are mainly funded by research councils or universities directly—are worth about ￡14，000－￡16，000 a year and usually include a fee waiver (saving a further ￡5，000). That's a lot of money.
But the funding tends to go to students half my age with straightA academic results—not to people like me, who have taken an unusual path to academia. When I was turned down for the last studentship I applied for, I asked why. The decision maker—a professor in my department and the head of a research institute—told me “it all comes down to excellent academic results”．
They don't say this on the application forms: it's all about the originality of your project, your research statement, your supervisor's supporting statement, the panel that considers you, the level of competition. But when it comes down to it, this is clearly what they want. Someone with my background is never going to get a studentship if the decisive criteria are undergraduate and master's results.
When I started my PhD and realised that I would need financial help, I went to the student advice office and told them that I am a carer. They asked what that meant and then offered me advice on benefits, but not funding. I went to the student union advice service—they referred me back to student advice. I went to the graduate school. Same response. I spoke to a vice dean and a chaplain. I had to tell them what a carer is. You get the picture. I was invisible. So I gave up, decided to apply annually for the studentships and kept my parttime job.
UCAS announced this year that young carers will now be able to identify themselves in their applications, so that universities will be able to support them. But how is this going to happen if staff at these institutions don't even know what a carer is?
The student welfare vicepresident at the union has finally agreed with me that carers are an undersupported and underrepresented group on campus. We are going to ask student records to add an option to the equality and diversity monitoring section, so that we can identify as carers and hopefully raise awareness. Wish us luck.
1. Put the following events in the correct order.a. The author won awards for her research.
b. The author spoke to a vice dean and a chaplain.
c. The author decided to apply annually for studentships.
d. The author started her PhD.
| A．dabc | B．dcba |
| C．cdab | D．cdba |
| A．she has a disabled son | B．her academic results were not good enough |
| C．the bureaucracy of caring kept her busy | D．the competition was too fierce |
| A．the writer likes reading success stories |
| B．the writer is a nonwhite woman |
| C．carers deserve our attention and help |
| D．carers are favored in the process of application and enrollment |
| A．Only undergraduates and masters can get the studentship. |
| B．In spite of her son's illness, the writer continued to work to feed her family. |
| C．The writer shows great interest and enthusiasm in her academic research. |
| D．The writer's disabled son does not respect his mother. |
| A．call on more people to care about disabled teenagers |
| B．complain about the barriers she met in getting funding |
| C．inform the readers of a carer's difficulties |
| D．give advice on how to get a studentship |
3 . SAN FRANCISCO — A dog that survived the catastrophic wildfire in Northern California apparently protected the ruins of his home for almost a month until his owner returned.
Madison was there waiting when Andrea Gaylord was allowed back to check on her burned property in Paradise this week. Gaylord fled when the Nov. 8 fire broke out and destroyed the town of 27 ,000. Shayla Sullivan, an animal rescuer, who responded to Gaylord’s request to check on Madison first spotted the male Anatolian shepherd mix several days later.
Shayla Sullivan said the outdoor guard dog was mentally upset and kept his distance. Sullivan left food and water for him regularly until Gaylord got back on Wednesday. She also helped locate Madison’s brother Miguel, another Anatolian shepherd mix that was taken to a shelter 85 miles (135 kilometers) away after the wildfire.
“If the evacuees (疏散人员) can’t be there, I’m going to be there and I’m not going to give up on their animal until they can get back in,” Sullivan said.
The dogs reunited Friday when Gaylord came back to the property with Miguel and brought Madison his favorite treat: a box of Wheat Thin crackers.
Gaylord told news station ABC10 she couldn’t ask for a better animal. “Imagine the loyalty of hanging on in the worst of circumstances and being here waiting,” she said. “Their job is to watch the sheep and we’re part of them.” Gaylord said about her dogs. “It’s a comforting feeling.”
1. Andrea Gaylord was deeply touched by Madison’s ________.| A．noble blood | B．special habit |
| C．being faithful to his master | D．narrow escape from the wildfire |
| A．Gaylord requested Sullivan to leave food and water for Madison. |
| B．Madison was afraid of getting close to Sullivan in the beginning. |
| C．Sullivan saved Miguel in order to comfort Madison. |
| D．Sullivan took both two dogs to a shelter 85 miles away. |
a. Miguel was taken to a shelter
b. the wildfire in Northern California broke out
c. Madison was treated with a box of Wheat Thin crackers
d. Andrea Gaylord applied for search and rescue of Madison
| A．d-c-a-b | B．b-d-a-c | C．d-a-c-b | D．b-a-c-d |
| A．Andrea Gaylord found Madison in a shelter. |
| B．Gaylord told news station she wanted for a better animal. |
| C．The Nov. 8 fire killed 27,000 people in the town. |
| D．Shayla Sullivan was kind-hearted and patient. |
4 . If you ever find yourself trapped in the wilderness without food, you'll have to figure out how to feed yourself. Many plants in the wild are edible, but many are also poisonous. So it is necessary to learn how to determine whether the plants you find can be eaten safely.
Avoid using this method without careful planning. Some plants can be deadly, and even if you follow these guidelines perfectly, there is always a chance that a plant will make you seriously ill. Prepare yourself for wilderness outings by learning about the local plants, and carry a guidebook to help you identify plants. Even if you are unprepared and cannot find food you know to be safe, remember that, depending on your activity level, the human body can go for days without food, and you’re better off being hungry than being poisoned.
Testing the plant in your mouth is dangerous, so go forward very slowly and carefully. First, hold a small portion of the prepared plant part against your lip for 3 minutes. Do not put the plant in your mouth. If you notice any burning, tingling (刺痛), or other reactions, discontinue testing. Second, place another small portion of the plant part on your tongue. Hold the plant on your tongue without chewing for 15 minutes. Discontinue testing if you notice any reaction. Third, chew the plant and hold it in your mouth for 15 minutes. Chew the plant well, and do not swallow. Discontinue testing if you notice any reaction. Fourth, swallow the small portion of the plant. Wait 8 hours. Do not eat or drink anything during this period except purified water. If you feel sick, immediately throw up what you eat and drink plenty of water. If activated charcoal (活性炭) is available, take that with the water.
1. What’s the meaning of the underlined world “edible” in paragraph 1?| A．Suitable for using as food. | B．Widely spread. |
| C．Existing in large quantities. | D．Not widely known. |
| A．Planning is unnecessary when using the method. |
| B．Not all plants in the wild can serve as food generally. |
| C．Suffering hunger can be more dangerous than testing plants. |
| D．Following the method perfectly can ensure safety. |
① wait and see ② chew it in the mouth③ put it on the tongue④ put it against lips ⑤ swallow it
| A．③④②①⑤ | B．④③②①⑤ | C．③④②⑤① | D．④③②⑤① |
| A．A student’s diary. |
| B．A science report. |
| C．A guide book for camping. |
| D．A doctor’ s notebook. |
5 . In Africa, Christmas Day begins with groups of carolers (欢唱颂歌的人) walking to and from through the village, along the roadway, by the houses of the missionaries (传教士), singing the lovely carols known to the world around. Often people may be awakened by a group of carolers beginning to gather at the house of worship(敬神活动). They return home to make final preparations as to the clothes one must wear and also as to their offering for the Christmas service.
The most important part of their Christmas worship service is the love offering. This is the gift in honor of Jesus. At about 8 or 9 o'clock everyone goes to the celebration of the birthday of Jesus. Everyone who attends the service goes forward to lay down their gift upon the raised platform near the Communion table. No one will attend the service without giving a gift.
Christmas in South Africa is a summer holiday. There is no snow, but it has many flowers, many beautiful varieties of wild flowers being in their full pride.
In Ghana, most churches show the coming of Christmas by decorating the church and homes beginning with the first week in Advent, four weeks before Christmas. This season happens to be the time of cocoa harvest, so it is a time of wealth. Everyone returns home from wherever they might be such as farms or mines.
In Africa, it is the traditional dinner of turkey, roast beef, mince pies, or suckling pig, yellow rice with raisins, vegetables, and plum pudding, crackers. In the afternoon, families go out into the country and usually there are games or bathing in the warm sunshine, and then home in the cool of the evening. Boxing Day is also a proclaimed (正式宣布的) public holiday usually spent in the open air. It falls on December 26 and is a day of real relaxation.
1. The purpose of this text is to ________.| A．persuade us to have a holiday in Africa |
| B．describe some important holidays in Africa |
| C．tell us how people celebrate Christmas in Africa |
| D．introduce to us when Christmas came into being |
| A．One must sing a carol on the platform. |
| B．One must appear in fantastic clothes. |
| C．Food is shared among carolers. |
| D．Everyone carries a gift to the scene. |
| A．the church and homes are being decorated |
| B．there are flowers all over the country |
| C．everyone returns home to harvest cocoa |
| D．it is snowing heavily everywhere |
| A．Christmas→ Boxing Day→Advent |
| B．Boxing Day→ Christmas→Advent |
| C．Christmas→ Advent→Boxing Day |
| D．Advent→Christmas→Boxing Day |
6 . It is difficult for doctors to help a person with a damaged brain. Without enough blood, the brain lives for only three to five minutes. More often the doctors can’t fix the damage. Sometimes they are afraid to try something to help because it is dangerous to work on the brain. The doctors might make the person worse if he operates on the brain.
Dr. Robert White, a famous professor and doctor, thinks he knows a way to help. He thinks doctors should make the brain very cold. If it is very cold, the brain can live without blood for 30 minutes. This gives the doctor a longer time to do something for the brain.
Dr. White tried his idea on 13 monkeys. First he taught them to do different jobs, then he operated on them. He made the monkeys’ blood back to the monkeys’ brains. When the brain’s temperature was 10℃, Dr. White stopped the blood to the brain.After 30 minutes he turned the blood back on. He warmed the blood again. After their operations the monkeys were like they had been before. They were healthy and busy. Each one could still do the jobs the doctor had taught them.
1. The brain operation was made possible mainly by ____.| A．taking the blood out of the brain | B．trying the operation on monkeys first |
| C．having the blood go through a machine | D．lowering the brain’s temperature |
| A．can last as long as 30 minutes | B．can keep the brain’s blood warm |
| C．can keep the patient’s brain healthy | D．can help monkeys do different jobs |
a. send the cooled back to the brain b. stop the blood to the brain
c. have the blood cooled down d. operate on the brain
| A．a, b, c, d | B．c, a, b, d | C．c, b, d, a | D．b, c, d, a |
7 . In many countries of the world, people can confidently tell you the meaning of their town or city, but most people who live in Manchester, Oxford or Birmingham would not be able to explain what the name of their city means. The name of every British town and city, however, has a long history.
Two thousand years ago, most people living in Britain were Celts. Even the word “Britain" is Celtic (凯尔特语).Then the Romans arrived and built camps which became cities called “castra". This is why there are so many place names in England which end in "-chester" or “-caster" Manchester, for example.
The Romans never reached Wales or Scotland, and many place names there are Celtic. For example,Welsh place names that begin with “Llan" come from the Celtic word for "church".
After the Romans left Britain, it was attacked by the Anglo-Saxons who were from the area of Europe that is now Germany and Holland. The names of their villages often ended in “-ham" or “-ton". Some got their names from the leader of the village.So Birmingham for example, means "Beormund's village”
The Anglo-Saxons were farmers and the landscape was very important to them, so we have villages called Upton (village on a hill)——a good place to build a village and Moreton (“village by a lake”)where floods could make life hard. Place names that end in “-ford" (a place where you could cross a river) also describe the location of Anglo-Saxon villages.
Finally, in 1066 England became Norman—the Normans gave us the place name "grange", which means farm.
And how about London? Experts cannot agree. The Romans called the city Londinium, but they were not the first inhabitants (居民). People once believed that the United Kingdom’s capital city got its name from the castle of a King called Lud but this is very unlikely. Our best guess today is that the name comes from a Celtic word meaning a fast-flowing river. Like a number of British place names, its history is lost in time.
1. The origin of British place names is unfamiliar to many local people because of| A．the death of local languages |
| B．the long lost history of the names |
| C．their lack of interest in it |
| D．the frequent changes to the names |
| A．on a hill | B．near a castle |
| C．beside a river | D．with a church |
| A．The Celts—The Romans—The Normans—The Anglo Saxons |
| B．The Celts—The Romans—The Anglo Saxons—The Normans |
| C．The Romans—The Celts—The Anglo Saxons—The Normans |
| D．The Romans―The Anglo Saxons—The Celts—The Normans |
| A．River | B．Londinium |
| C．Lud | D．Castle |
8 . One advantage of the Internet is shopping conveniently online for clothes; one disadvantage of the Internet is also shopping conveniently online for clothes.
“Nothing fits,” said Lam Yuk Wong, a senior in electrical and computer engineering at Rice University. “Everyone says this. They order clothes and they don’t fit. People get very unhappy.”
Wong and her design partner, Xuaner “Cecilia” Zhang, are Team White Mirror, creators of what they call a “virtual (虚拟) fitting room”. Their goal is simple and consumer-friendly: to let online clothing shoppers have a perfect fit and a perfect look when shopping every time.
Both women are from China, Wong from Hong Kong and Zhang from Beijing. They both order most of their clothing online. They got the idea from their own experience as consumers and from listening to the complaints of friends and relatives. “They say, ‘The color is wrong’ or ‘I got the right size but it still does not fit.’ We want to make it like you’re in the store trying on the clothes,” Zhang said.
Using a Kinect developed by Microsoft for use with its Xbox 360 video game player,
Zhang scans Wong and turns her image into, in effect, a virtual model, keeping Wong’s dimensions (尺寸), and even her skin and hair color. “We put the clothes on the shopper’s 3-D body models and show how they look when they are dressed,” Wong said. So far, Wong and Zhang have adapted the software to show dresses and shirts, and they are now working on shorts.
Asked if she thought men as well as women might be interested in using their virtual fitting room, Wong said, “I think their wives will care about this, so it will also be important to men.”
1. Why is shopping conveniently online for clothes a disadvantage?| A．Clothes bought online may not fit. |
| B．Students may easily get addicted to it. |
| C．It attracts more online clothing shoppers. |
| D．It causes shoppers to waste too much money. |
| A．the Xbox 360 video game player | B．a program at their university |
| C．some shop-owners’ complaints | D．their shopping experiences |
| A．scanning—trying on clothes—getting images |
| B．trying on clothes—getting models—scanning |
| C．scanning—getting models—trying on clothes |
| D．trying on clothes—getting images—scanning |
| A．It is perfectly developed. |
| B．It will have its market share. |
| C．It is limited to women shoppers. |
| D．It is like a kind of video game player. |
9 . We're so attached to plastic, but we're careless consumers. Waste plastic is entering our ecosystems and food chains with untold consequences. Cleaning up our polluted world of plastic may seem a noble, but thankless task. However, some people are seeing economic opportunity in the mission.
Plastic Bank, a social enterprise from Canada, is monetizing plastic recycling while empowering those most affected by the waste. It works to prevent waste plastic from entering oceans by encouraging people in developing countries to collect plastic from their communities in exchange for cash, food, clean water or school tuition for their children. After collection, plastic is weighed, sorted, chipped, melted into balls and sold on as“raw material”to be made into everything from bottles for cleaning products to clothing.
“I saw in large quantities; I saw an opportunity,”CEO David Katz told the audience at the Sustainable Brands Oceans conference in Porto, Portugal on November 14.“We reveal the value in this material,”he added.
Plastic Bank was founded in 2013 and launched on the ground operations in 2014 in Haiti, the poorest country in the Western, Hemisphere, where close to 60% of the population live under the poverty line. As result of poor waste disposal and recycling infrastructure (基础设施)，plastic waste enters rivers or is burned and poses the health threats to the local residents.
The company says i has over 2,000 collectors working in the country, with its full- time collectors on average 63% above the poverty line thanks to the income they make from the project. Through its app based payment system, many collectors now have bank accounts for the first time, and are able to ultimately escape ultra poverty.
“Nothing we're doing is against the laws of physics,”said Katz. “All the technology exists for us to solve and save the world. It's only creative thought.”
1. What is Plastic Bank aimed to do?| A．Test out creative ideas. |
| B．Discover new material. |
| C．Promote plastic recycling. |
| D．Stop people using plastic. |
| A．Purchasing- collecting—recycling. |
| B．Exchanging collecting—purchasing. |
| C．Collecting- exchanging—reproducing. |
| D．Persuading consuming—reproducing. |
| A．Haiti attaches great importance to recycling. |
| B．Many locals benefit greatly from the project. |
| C．Collecting is an efficient way to recycle waste. |
| D．The project has solved unemployment in Haiti: |
| A．Companies stand to ban plastic consumption |
| B．Technology finds its way to kick off poverty |
| C．David Katz speaks at the conference in Porto |
| D．Plastic Bank is fighting against plastic waste |
10 . When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks (挫折) to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry to Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie, “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”, shown in late April.
Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it.
Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets. “What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,” she wrote in her book Breaking Night.
She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that “next to nothing could hold me down”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University. But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS. “I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time.”
Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is “as simple as making a decision”.
1. The main idea of the passage is ________.| A．how Liz managed to enter Harvard University |
| B．how Liz struggled to change her life |
| C．why Liz loved her parents so much |
| D．the hard time Liz had in her childhood |
a. Her mother died of AIDS.
b. She worked at a petrol station.
c. She got admitted into Harvard.
d. The movie about her life was put on.
e. She had trouble finding a place to sleep.
| A．b, e, a, d, c | B．a, b, c, e, d | C．e, d, b, a, c | D．b, a, e, c, d |
| A．Both Liz’s father and mother are AIDS-infected patients. |
| B．Liz lived a hard time in her childhood. |
| C．Liz’s story is an inspiration to many people. |
| D．Liz hated her father because he got addicted to drugs. |
| A．Envy and encouragement. | B．Willpower and determination. |
| C．Decisions and understanding. | D．Love and respect for her parents. |
