1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
The Mystery is No Mystery
The area of ocean between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda, known as the Bermuda Triangle, is the source of much mystery. Over the centuries, reports of ships and planes disappearing
The Bermuda Triangle covers a vast 700,000 square-kilometer swathe of ocean. Close to the equator(赤道)and near the United States, it is a particularly busy patch of sea with heavy traffic. According to Lloyd’s of London and the U. S. Coast Guard,
These days, new theories are being put forward, with a bit of scientific truth to them. Some have attributed Bermuda Triangle disappearances to explosive releases of methane (甲烷) gas,
The only problem with this theory is that scientists won’t be able to tell with much certainty if this is a factor
Offshore production
The world’s consumption of fashion is huge. The European Union imported textiles (clothing and carpets) to the value of €83.7 billion in 2010. Prices have fallen, too, with hand-finished shirts costing less than five euros. To make clothes at these low prices, companies have to keep costs down. They use offshore production to do this. Large companies make their products in developing countries where workers are paid much less than in developed countries.
A point that should be considered in that case is that developing countries encourage developed countries to invest in them to provide jobs. Supporters of overseas production point out that increased investment has positive effects in the long term. Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman points out that the growth in manufacturing has an impact on the rest of the economy, because it reduces the number of people needing to work in agriculture and increases competition for labour. This leads to higher wages, which lead to other improvements, such as the ability to send children to school. On the other hand, the disadvantage of this foreign investment is the fact that it can have a negative impact on the economy of developed countries, because people lose their jobs when production is outsourced to other countries.
It seems that if multinationals are going to benefit from low production costs by using overseas suppliers, they should do more to improve the social situation—for example, by building schools for the children in those communities. It is also clear that multinationals should invest in communities in the developed countries where they sell their products. In conclusion, there are clear benefits for the multinationals in terms of lower costs of production in developing countries and their workers, but they should still do more to protect the workers in overseas manufacturing plants.
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Iceland shows off nature
Found just south of the Arctic Circle, it’s far from the northernmost country on Earth. But as a travel destinations, Iceland is on top of the world.
Known as‚ “the land of fire and ice”, the country has many natural wonders. As the Today website put it, “It is
As the world was reminded when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted six years ago, Iceland is a country “still in the making, and few other places offer the same opportunities to see the earth
Ice is Iceland’s other big attraction-to be exact, the huge glaciers which travel toward the coast,
On Sept 28, the country’s capital Reykjavik decided to turn off all streetlights for an hour at night to give people a unique chance to enjoy the northern lights. Thanks to the glaciers and the dark sky, the bright, colourful
And
“The beast in Iceland, with its harsh(严酷的) nature and bitter, ever-changing weather. We cannot escape it,” Haraldur Jonsson, an Icelandic artists, told the Observer newspaper while describing his inspiration. “So we find ways to live with it. We
假定你是李华，你的美国朋友 Sarah打算暑期来北京旅游，来信询问改建后前门大街的情况。请你写封回信，简单介绍以下内容：
1. 简况：长800余米、600多年历史、300余家商铺；
2. 位置：天安门广场南面；
3. 交通：公共汽车17、69、59等路，地铁2号线；
4. 特色：步行街、当当车、茶馆、剧院等。
参考词汇：步行街 pedestrian street
当当车 trolley car
地铁 subway
注意：
1. 词数100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头语已为你写好，请将完整的回信书写在答题卡上。
Dear Sarah,
Thank you for your letter asking about the rebuilt Qianmen Street. Here is something about it. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours, Lihua
