Chinese Paper Cut | |
| long history | over 2,000 years |
| very popular | in different parts of China, young or old, be fond of, do well in |
| different shapes | birds, animals, flowers … |
| Where do people put Chinese paper cuts? ... | |
You wanted to know about Chinese paper cut. Here I’m glad to tell you something about it.
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Best wishes.
Yours,
Li Ming
The h
Famous s
3 . In comparison to many closely-related species, the human child takes a long time to grow up and requires a high degree of parental investment(亲情投资). Human children need more time to reach maturity(成熟)than other closely-related species.
A new study finds that one reason is the large amount of energy that the brain requires as it grows.
Christopher Kuzawa, first author of the study, explained: “Our findings suggest that our bodies can’t afford to grow faster during the toddler(幼童)and childhood years because a huge quantity of resources is required to fuel developing the human brain. As humans we have so much to learn, and that learning requires a complex and energy-hungry brain.”
Data from the study shows that at the moment when children’s bodies are growing the least-on average, at four years old-their brains are using the highest percentage of glucose(葡萄糖). That means that 40% of the child’s total energy expenditure is being used by its brain.
The findings support the theory that children take so long to mature because of the energy-intensive task of growing a massively over-sized brain in comparison to the brain-to-body weight ratio of other species.
Kuzawa continued: “After a certain age it becomes difficult to guess a toddler or young child’s age by their size. Instead you have to listen to their speech and watch their behavior. Our study suggests that this is no accident.”
Body growth nearly stops at the ages when brain development is happening at a lightning pace, because the brain is using up the available resources.”
“The mid-childhood peak in brain costs has to do with the fact that there are a huge number of synapses(神经元突触), connections in the brain, at this age, when we learn so many of the things we need to know to be successful humans.”
1. Why does it take people so long to grow up?| A．They need to store energy to grow later. |
| B．They need time to adapt to their environment. |
| C．Most of the energy is used for brain development. |
| D．They need a high degree of parental investment. |
| A．At about four years old. | B．At about two years old. |
| C．At about one year old. | D．At about five years old. |
| A．Why toddlers and children need plenty of resources. |
| B．The reason why it takes human infants a long time to grow up. |
| C．The reason why human infants are similar to other animals. |
| D．Why the brains of people need a large amount of energy. |
| A．age | B．their size |
| C．listen to their speech | D．guess their age by listening and watching |
4 . Very far away from the city lived a poor farmer and his wife. In front of their house was a small dirt road. Very few cars drove on this road because it was so far from the city. On the dirt road, there was a big hole filled with water. The hole was very deep, but drivers on the road didn’t know just how deep. Drivers always drove into the hole, but they never drove out.
One day, a man in a new car was driving down the road. He saw the hole with the water, but he didn’t think it was very deep. He drove into the hole, but he couldn’t drive out. The man saw the farmer on his tractor working in the field, and he signaled to the farmer. The farmer drove over to the man in the new car.
“Is there a problem?” asked the farmer.
“Yes,” said the man. “My car is stuck in this hole. Can you help me?”
“Maybe,” said the farmer. “But I’m very busy.”
“If you help me, I’ll pay you,” said the man.
“OK,” said the farmer. The farmer pulled the car out of the hole with his tractor, and the man paid him a lot of money. The man looked at the farmer and said, “You must make a lot of money pulling cars out of this hole day and night.”
“Actually, no,” said the farmer.
“Why not?” asked the man.
“The hole is very deep, and a lot of people get stuck and ask for help. But I don’t make money day and night because I don’t pull cars out at night.”
“At night I’m busy filling the hole with water,” answered the farmer.
1. Why did very few cars drive on the small dirt road?| A．Because the road was dirty. | B．Because it was so far from the city. |
| C．Because very few people knew the way. | D．Because the drivers knew there was a hole. |
| A．he just learnt to drive a car | B．it was the first time that he passed there |
| C．he knew how deep the hole was | D．he knew the farmer in the field |
| A．Drivers didn’t see there was a hole on the road. |
| B．The man drove into the hole and never drove out. |
| C．The farmer was busy filling the hole with water at night. |
| D．The driver made a lot of money pulling cars out of the hole day and night. |
| A．The road | B．The city | C．The car | D．The man |
5 . Ice cream can’t cure cancer or bring back a lost love, but it can make one feel better for a while. About 18 months ago, my father was in hospital recovering from a major lung operation. My mother had recently
| A．passed away | B．gone out | C．comeback | D．calmed down |
| A．work | B．life | C．studies | D．games |
| A．speak | B．laugh | C．drink | D．eat |
| A．though | B．however | C．instead | D．therefore |
| A．joy | B．satisfaction | C．surprise | D．relief |
| A．if | B．unless | C．so | D．because |
| A．borrowed | B．bought | C．made | D．fetched |
| A．woman | B．granny | C．girl | D．child |
| A．question | B．situation | C．process | D．decision |
| A．better than | B．more than | C．rather than | D．other than |
| A．pretty | B．honest | C．sick | D．shy |
| A．offered | B．told | C．sold | D．charged |
| A．hardly | B．finally | C．gradually | D．totally |
| A．accepted | B．stored | C．exchanged | D．gave |
| A．remembering | B．denying | C．explaining | D．forgetting |
| A．ordinary | B．similar | C．interesting | D．great |
| A．have | B．like | C．expect | D．attract |
| A．reported | B．expressed | C．noticed | D．repeated |
| A．covered | B．connected | C．rewarded | D．filled |
| A．politeness | B．kindness | C．selflessness | D．willingness |
6 . Standing nervously behind the red curtain, I glanced out across the stage. A girl about my age sat at a piano; I could see her fingertips moving over the black and white keys in front of her. The beautiful melody (旋律) was so relaxing,
My body
“Well, here goes nothing.” I said to myself.
I stepped onto the
Finally, I took a deep breath and began to play Beethoven’s moonlight sonata (协奏曲). The rich tones of the piano rang out. One by one, each muscle in my body loosened and relaxed I sat on the bench and my
All the practice and
When I reached the end of the piece the audience started
| A．and | B．but | C．for | D．so |
| A．ached | B．bent | C．moved | D．froze |
| A．hide | B．sleep | C．play | D．drink |
| A．run | B．escape | C．stand | D．perform |
| A．happily | B．lightly | C．hardly | D．violently |
| A．guy | B．luck | C．music | D．performance |
| A．stage | B．bridge | C．path | D．chair |
| A．hurt | B．killed | C．blinded | D．frightened |
| A．piano | B．curtain | C．light | D．entrance |
| A．waving | B．shaking | C．unfolding | D．crossing |
| A．wild | B．awake | C．blank | D．wrong |
| A．fingers | B．feet | C．arms | D．legs |
| A．excuse | B．support | C．service | D．effort |
| A．forget | B．recall | C．ignore | D．grasp |
| A．helped | B．started | C．stopped | D．formed |
| A．joking | B．blaming | C．leaving | D．clapping |
| A．burned | B．dried | C．lit | D．lifted |
| A．relieved | B．worried | C．embarrassed | D．confused |
| A．confidently | B．fearfully | C．excitedly | D．angrily |
| A．encouragement | B．sympathy | C．appreciation | D．reward |
7 . While gazing at an airplane passing thousands of feet overhead, or when you are just about to board a flight at the airport, have you ever noticed that the majority of airplanes are white? Sure, some have decorations and names in different colors, but the base color behind those add-ons is almost always white.
Now, thinking of your summer wardrobe, which has at least a couple of white items, be it a T-shirt, a pair of pants, or a skirt. The main reason people prefer white on a hot day is its particular ability to reflect sunlight. The color white is a terrific reflector of sunlight, and reflects almost all the light that falls on it, unlike other colors, which absorb some of the light. So, just like clothing, aircraft producers use white paint to keep airplanes cool. It minimizes the heating as well as the potential harm from solar radiation. Planes have some parts made from plastic, carbon fiber, and fiberglass. Those things in particular need the most protection from the blazing sun.
The next reason for painting planes white is even more practical. It’s just cheaper to have white-colored plane. You see, all airplanes start out white when they’re made. But what if an airline decides to paint theirs, say, bright yellow? An additional layer of paint will add more than 1,000 pounds of weight to the aircraft. The paint on a Boeing 737 weighs 180kg and on a Boeing 747 is around 500kg. Weight increment means the increase of fuel burnt, and that can get pricey. Most airlines want to avoid the higher cost.
When flying at high altitudes, exposed to various atmospheric conditions, colored airplanes tend to fade, and thus require a lot of paint jobs to maintain their artistic appeal. A white-colored airplane, on the other hand, doesn’t appear significantly different, even after spending a considerable amount of time in the air.
Besides, airplanes are regularly inspected for cracks and any other form of surface damage for obvious safety reasons. Nothing works better than white when it comes to spotting a crack on the surface, as the crack is almost always darker than white. Plus, a white plane is easier to spot visually in the event of a crash or any other mishap, especially at night, or in a massive body of water.
Additionally, a study published in Human-Wildlife Interactions found that the paint job does make a difference to birds: “This finding suggests that a whiter airframe would stand out more against the sky from the perspective of the flying bird’s visual system.” According to ABC, approximately $300 million dollars’ worth of damage to planes is caused by birds each year. There you have it: Planes are white to keep you as safe and comfortable as possible, with the added bonus of hitting by fewer birds.
1. What can we learn from the passage?| A．Colored airplane is easier to spot when in the event of a crash. |
| B．White color can absorb some of the light and make the plane cool. |
| C．White paint can decrease the possible damage of the sun radiation. |
| D．Colored aircrafts do not fade easily and maintain the color for a long time. |
| A．the aircrafts | B．white-colored plane |
| C．most airlines | D．the increase of fuel burnt |
| A．To introduce how the birds’ visual system works. |
| B．To show the cost of an airplane is quite expensive. |
| C．To state white plane is more obvious to flying birds. |
| D．To stress how serious damage birds can do to planes. |
| A．inform and explain | B．discuss and clarify |
| C．analyze and advise | D．compare and evaluate |
8 . Sometimes, when looking at the things that have been lying around for a long time in our lives, we probably realize that those items may be useful to others. With the development of the internet, online communities have figured out a way to generate profit from the sharing of those underused assets. Using websites and social media platforms that facilitate the buying and selling of second-hand goods, it is now easier than ever for peer-to-peer sharing activities to take place. And this is what we call sharing economy.
One of the things consumers appreciate when using or working in the sharing economy is the flexibility. It offers services to people when and where they want them. For those who don’t care for traditional office work, sharing economies do not require professional working environments, so there is no need to put yourself in an atmosphere that unfits for your personality. It allows people to choose flexible atmosphere to work remotely instead of in one physical office space.
A sharing economy helps consumers to earn money by renting out underused goods or resources. For example, you can rent out a home using Airbnb, expensive tools from one’s garage, cars, or even sharing the groceries before going on a holiday. All of these provide a way for items to be resold and repurposed instead of just thrown away. Therefore, it helps to reduce waste and make or save money for the provider and users.
But the sharing economy is not without criticisms. The sharing economy is developing faster than existing regulations or ongoing supervision. One downside is that in many cases there is a lack of regulation to check the products and services exchanged during these deals. Unlike formal companies, unregulated individuals do not follow certain regulations and this can lead to poorer and inconsistent quality of goods and services and a higher risk of fraud. For example, hotels are inspected to assure quality, whereas some apartments for short-term rental online are not. The digitally-driven peer-to-peer nature of the sharing economy services sometimes doesn’t match well with certain regulations, which on the other hand, helps keep the provided services more affordable.
Another problem is related to safety concerns. Most sharing economy platforms are based on trust, as well as ratings by guests and hosts. But sometimes it happens that one uses a car, or rents an apartment and it is totally different than one imagines. After all, we have heard some unpleasant tales of guests and hosts.
The sharing economy definitely has its lovers and haters. Many are not ready to switch to that model, where others are already using more than four platforms in their daily lives.
1. What makes peer-to-peer sharing activities easier?| A．The convenience of the network. |
| B．The development of community. |
| C．People’s keeping underused things. |
| D．People’s demand of second-hand goods. |
| A．sharing economy services are more affordable |
| B．short-term rental apartments are cheaper than hotels |
| C．the current rules can’t regulate the quality of online business |
| D．apartments rental online can’t ensure the safety of the guests |
| A．Supportive. | B．Neutral. | C．Disapproving. | D．Doubtful. |
I: Introduction P: Point Sp: Sub-point (次要点) C: Conclusion
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
Shadow plays, the earliest of
1. 时间、地点、参加人员；
2. 主要活动安排；
3. 询问对方的意向。
注意：1. 词数不少于50；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Jim,
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Yours,
Li Hua
