1 . The whale, as big as a locomotive(火车头) jumped out of the water, spinning(旋转) as though for joy, before jumping back under the waves. We watched the scene(场景) silently in astonishment, never having been so close to such a huge, fast-moving creature. It seemed almost possible to count the small shellfish on the whale’s skin.
In early December, gray whales, blue whales, and others had just started heading around the tip of Baja California, Mexico, moving as a community from the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Cortez. It’s in that protected waterway that pregnant whales give birth to their babies. Other whale babies, born the year before, could be seen sailing behind. All whale babies get two trips like this with their mom before they’re ready to start having babies of their own and making the journey on their own.
We’re in one of several small powerboats, sent out by Scuba Caribe, which carries on such tours in Cabo San Lucas. The whales seemed to be, at times, less than 100 feet from our boat when they rushed out of the water. At other times, they would get much closer and swim beside the boat.
“What if one lands on us?” a woman next to me wondered. Fernando Del Toro, the Destination Manager of Scuba Caribe said, “We haven’t had any incident (事件) of whales jumping over our boats as we always keep our distance. We’re sure they themselves are probably careful not to crash into boats. Such an accident would probably also cause them much harm.”
“Everyone can enjoy this magical trip,” said Del Toro. “However, we do not recommend(推荐) it for kids under 5 years old,” he added.
Though conditions on the water vary, our trip was wonderful. Even when the boat sped up to catch up with the whales, there was little need to “hang on”, and some of us remained standing throughout most of the trip. Still, you may want to pack medicine for those who might get seasick while bouncing(颠簸行进) along the waves.
1. How does the author start the text?| A．By telling a story. | B．By asking questions. |
| C．By describing a scene. | D．By giving background information. |
| A．A description of the author’s journey. |
| B．A list of best places for whale-watching. |
| C．An introduction to the travelling of whales. |
| D．A suggestion on taking a whale-watching tour. |
| A．It is suitable for all ages. |
| B．It is much too dangerous. |
| C．It may cause serious damage to wildlife. |
| D．It should be done from a proper distance. |
| A．It was smooth in general. |
| B．It was tiring in particular. |
| C．It was destroyed by a storm. |
| D．It was terrible due to his seasickness. |
2 . Competitive video gaming, known as e-sports, should be included in the Olympic Games, the creator of World of Warcraft has told the BBC.
Rob Pardo, who until July, 2014 was chief creative officer at Blizzard Entertainment, a famous game company, said that “sport” now had a broad definition. “Video games are well positioned to be a spectator sport (观赏性体育运动).“ he told Afternoon Edition on BBC S Live.
Professional e-sports events currently attract audiences of millions. A recent major final held in Seoul, South Korea, filled a stadium of 40,000 people, with many more watching online around the world.
”There’s a very good argument for e-sports being in the Olympics,“ said Mr. Pardo, who was also lead designer on Starcraft: Brood War, a game often credited with promoting the e-sports phenomenon.
”I think the way that you look at e-sports is that it is a very competitive skill and you look at these professional gamers and the reflexes are lightning quick and they’re having to make very quick decisions on the fly.
“When you look at their ‘actions per minute’, they’re clearing over 300.”
However, he admitted that video gaming faced a cultural battle to win over those who followed more physical sports.
“That starts getting into how you define sport,” he said. “If you want to define sport as something that takes a lot of physical exertion (用力气), then it’s hard to argue that video games should be a sport, but at the same time, when I’m looking at things that are already in the Olympics, I start questioning the definition.”
Having new sports admitted into the Olympic is a long-winded process and, since the International Olympic Committee (IOC) limited the number of sports allowed in the Games, has become increasingly difficult.
Even if e-sports were to be recognized as an Olympic sport, that doesn’t mean they would be included in the Games — it merely means a case can be presented to the IOC.
1. Which of the following is TRUE about Rob Pardo?| A．He works for BBC now. |
| B．He held the e-sports final in Seoul. |
| C．He was in charge of the game Starcraft: Brood War. |
| D．He is the chief creative officer at Blizzard Entertainment now. |
| A．reaction | B．challenge | C．creation | D．ability |
| A．very slow | B．very quick |
| C．as quick as ordinary people | D．as quick as other sports players |
| A．A travel brochure. | B．An advertisement. |
| C．A textbook. | D．A news report. |
When Gloria Estefan started primary school, she could not read, write nor speak English. She felt lost, unhappy and completely frightened. However, someone changed her life—her English teacher, Mrs Collins. Her family had left Cuba in 1959 when she was only a year old in the hope of finding a better life in America. Initially they moved to Miami where the family settled in a set of apartments with other Cuban women and children who had immigrated.
The women were close-knit and supportive. While she felt safe, she was also isolated. They all spoke Spanish, and she rarely heard English. On her very first day in school, which she was looking forward to, she was completely shocked. She came home and told her mother that she had learnt her first English word “stupid”. It was the nickname a boy had given her.
In every way possible, she was set apart from her classmates. She was the only panic and non-white student. She also found it difficult to grasp the English language as it was her second language. The culture, her school friends and the food they ate were different from hers. As such, she was set apart from her classmates.
One person made that year bearable for her, Mrs Collins. She was young and African American, so she understood how Gloria felt as she was the only non-white student in class. Mrs Collins never doubted that Gloria could catch up with the other students in time.
Still, the teasing continued. The boy who called her stupid would not stop laughing at her for her accent. He was a good student and the proud holder of the class’s reading award. It was an honour given periodically to a student, based on excellence in schoolwork, participation and homework. Gloria wanted that long-waited award.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Mrs Collins encouraged her to compete for the reading award.
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The award ceremony was coming up.
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4 . Football is, I suppose, the most popular game in England: one has only to go to one of the important matches to see this. Rich and poor, young and old, one can see them all there, shouting and cheering for one side or the other.
One of the most surprising things about football in England to a stranger is the great knowledge of the game which even the smallest boy seems to have. He can tell you the names of the players in most of the important teams. He has photographs of them and knows the results of a large number of matches. He will tell you who he expects will win , and his opinion is usually as valuable as that of men three or four times his age.
Most schools in England take football seriously — much more seriously than nearly all European schools, where lessons are all-important, and games are left for private arrangements. In England, it is believed that education is not only a matter of filling a boy’s mind with facts in a classroom education also means character training. One of the best ways of training character is by means of games, especially team games, where the boy has to learn to work with others for his team, instead of working selfishly for himself alone. The school therefore arranges games and matches for its pupils. Football is a good team game, it is good exercise for the body, it needs skill and a quick brain, it is popular and it is cheap. As a result, it is the school's favorite game in the winter.
1. In England football is a game enjoyed________.| A．only by young people | B．by people of all ages and classes |
| C．only by boys | D．only by rich people |
| A．people have little knowledge of football | B．even small boys know a lot about football |
| C．girls are more interested in football than boys | D．children are not interested in football at all |
| A．European schools take football seriously |
| B．schools in England care little about lessons |
| C．European schools often arrange football matches for their pupils |
| D．schools in England believe character training to be part of education |
| A．It is not expensive. | B．It needs teamwork. |
| C．It makes people selfish. | D．it is good exercise for the body |
5 . Hands-on basketball
The boy was only nine years old when he designed a “hands-on basketball”. Chris Haas had the idea when he saw his friends miss lots of baskets. His basketball has painted hands on it. The hands show you where to put your hands when you throw the ball. Today people use his invention around the world.
Wristies
At age 10, Kathryn Gregory was playing outside one day in the cold. Her wrists (手腕) began to hurt from the cold so she decided to find a way to keep both her hands and wrists warm during the winter. In 1994, she invented Wristies: fuzzy sleeves (毛绒袖子) that can be worn underneath gloves to protect your wrists from the cold. She worked with her mom to get the idea off the ground and now the product is sold worldwide.
Makin’ Bacon
Abbey Fleck was 8 years old when she noticed how much time her parents spent soaking up bacon fat (吸干培根油脂) after cooking. She realized that it might be easier to hang bacon while it cooks. That way you wouldn’t need paper towels and it would even make the bacon healthier. She then worked with her father to design a dish that hangs bacon while it cooks. Now people can see her invention in many supermarkets.
Braille
Louis Braille had an accident when he was three. The accident left him blind. At that time, it was hard for blind children to read. They had to touch raised letters. But it was difficult to tell a Q from an O, an R from a B, and so on. When he was fifteen, Louis invented an alphabet (字母表) that used raised dots. The Braille alphabet was a big success!
1. Whose invention is related to sports?| A．Chris Haas’. | B．Kathryn Gregory’s. |
| C．Abbey Fleck’s. | D．Louis Braille’s. |
| A．It was invented in 1994. |
| B．It was named after its inventor. |
| C．It helps people eat more healthily. |
| D．It reduces the cases of cooking accidents. |
| A．They were invented by kids. |
| B．They came into being by chance. |
| C．They were designed to help others. |
| D．They brought wealth to their inventors. |
6 . When we think of bicycles, we think of fun and the outdoors. Bicycles give riders the freedom to explore and enjoy the environment and its surroundings.
Most people know that riding bicycles is environmentally friendly.
Bikes are becoming more and more popular across the world. In fact, they are becoming more than just a fun pastime (娱乐).
Some South American cities, such as Bogota in Colombia, have a weekly car-free day.
It seems that the bike is a force for good, providing solutions for cleaner cities without leaving a serious environmental footprint.
| A．Riding bicycles is a healthy, cheap activity and good exercise. |
| B．Cities are taking this love and demand for bicycles seriously. |
| C．People are encouraged to buy bicycles to go to and from work. |
| D．Daily use of a bicycle has very low effect on the environment. |
| E．It is cheap and convenient to travel around the world on bicycles. |
| F．They are also used as a daily transport to work, school or shopping. |
| G．More than 2 million people bicycle, skate, or jog along the closed roads. |
The young artist and potter Allan had a wife and two fine sons. One night, his elder son developed a severe stomachache. Neither Allan nor his wife took the condition very
Knowing the death could
As the alcoholism progressed, Allan began to lose everything he possessed and finally died alone in a small bar. Hearing of his death, I thought, “
As time went by, I began to revalue my
Tears came to my eyes as I realized that I had been a fool to judge Allan as a failure. He had not left many material
8 . "Could you load(把碗碟放入)the dishwasher?" How many times have we asked our teenage children to do a chore(家务活)and found later that it was done so poorly that we have to finish the job?
Don't expect teens already know how to do something. Kelly says."We left my teenage daughter alone for a few days.
Use the team method.
Kelly says, "We do so much for our kids.
If you can’t stand how clothes are always being left on the floor, don’t let your teens got away with it .
Keep chores gender-neutral(不分性别的).
Don't leave all the kitchen chores for daughters, and jobs like washing the car or fixing things for sons.
| A．Explain the job. |
| B．Remember to say thank you. |
| C．However, she had no idea how to separate rubbish. |
| D．Watering the plants can be a good way of relaxation. |
| E．We drive them everywhere, and help with their homework. |
| F．Few parents are happy with the way housework is done by their teenagers. |
| G．Make them pick the clothes up, but don’t add on other chores at the same time |
“Nothing will ever be the same again,” Ally said to herself.
Ally's father died last summer. It wasn't fair, Ally thought. Dad was young and had never been sick. Why had his heart suddenly stopped? Ally sank slow into her father's favorite chair and looked at his picture on the bookcase. Ally smiled. “I miss you, Dad,” she said softly.
At this moment, she felt a hand smoothing her hair and looked up. “Why don't you come outside with me, Ally?” her mother asked. “The birds are nesting in the woods. By this time last year you'd already taken dozens of pictures.”
But her mother must know birdwatching wouldn't be the same this year. How could it be? Ally wondered. Ever since she could remember she and Dad had been a team, searching the woods for the special wood warbler (林柳莺). “I'll be out in while, I promise,” she answered.
After her mother left, Ally reached for the photo album she and Dad had put together. On the cover was a photo of a tiny yellow bird with blue-gray wings and black eyes. Dad cut it from a local newspaper. Ally smiled, remembering the excited look on Dad's face when he showed her the pretty bird.
“I can't believe someone spotted this little guy way up here in New Jersey,” he said. “Wood warblers are usually found in the south, not this far north. I bet if we search really hard, Ally, we'll see this little guy together someday.”
Ally closed her eyes. She loved thinking about the times she and Dad had spent searching the woods for the little bird. They'd never spotted the warbler, but her father had an amazing way of making each outing seem special. He was her best friend.
注意：
1.续写的短文词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
When they were together, Ally felt comfortable with her favorite blue sweatshirt on.
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Just then her mother came to her, carrying the old net.
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10 . Do Dolphins Have a Language?
We know that dolphins make unique sounds, but is that a language? If you’re interested in it, you are welcome to the activity recommended by Denise Herzing!
About Denise Herzing
Denise Herzing of Florida Atlantic University (FAU) is the organiser and research director of the Wild Dolphin Project, which has a goal of understanding dolphins’ social system, behaviour, and communication. For over thirty years, she has spent each summer watching Atlantic dolphins carefully in the Bahamas.
Activity Guide:
Purpose:
Dolphins use sound to communicate, but they can’t make sounds in the way we humans make. Out of the water dolphins can make different sounds by changing the shape of their blowhole (呼吸孔), which is similar to changing the shape of our own mouths. Underwater, though, they use a totally different system, and they make sounds without letting any air out. You can learn more about how that works here. In this activity we’re going to try to talk like a dolphin.
Materials:
Nothing! But find a partner, maybe a brother or sister or a parent — or if you have one, a dog or cat. After all, this activity is about communication between humans and animals.
How To Do It:
Take a deep breath, hold your nose to keep it shut, and try to communicate with your partner. If your partner is a pet, try saying its name or asking it to “come here”.
When you’re done, think about what made it hard, what solutions you found, and think why dolphins may have developed to communicate in this way.
Then listen to sounds from all kinds of sea animals and compare your dolphin sound to theirs.
1. What can we learn about Denise Herzing?| A．She holds the activity in FAU. |
| B．She is an expert in dolphins. |
| C．She wants to find a partner for her research. |
| D．She fell in love with dolphins when young. |
| A．Have a pet next to you. | B．Keep breathing deeply. |
| C．Talk with your nose closed. | D．Compare dolphins with other animals. |
| A．In a diary. | B．In a report. |
| C．In a travel brochure. | D．In an activity book |
