1 . Bournemouth in Dorset has always been my favourite seaside town. When I was growing up, Mum and Dad didn’t have much money, but they’d saved enough for a few days in Bournemouth. I was four years old at the time. I don’t actually remember much about the trip, apart from being devastated when we had to leave. Mum said I fell in love with the place and insisted on waving goodbye to the sea when it was time to go. So I grew up believing Bournemouth was a wonderful place.
Forty years on, my wife and I returned for a week’s break. I was nervous, wondering if I’d be able to bring back that delight I’d felt as a child. I needn’t have worried. We had a fantastic time. It helped that the British weather had decided to provide us with high temperatures and plenty of sun. But it was Bournemouth that kept me spellbound, making me feel like a child again.
Bournemouth and its neighbour, Boscombe, are always busy, alive with chatter, music and other lively sounds. But as we stepped into Boscombe Chine Gardens, all the noise faded away. A sense of peace spread through us as we meandered along the paths, delighting in the squirrels climbing up and down the trees and the bright colours of the pretty plants.
One morning, we made a short trip to Poole Quay and took the ferry to Brownsea Island. Owned by the National Trust, it’s a feast for the eyes, from its mock Tudor entrance, to the many peacocks walking around, to the magnificent views of the sun sparkling on the shining waters and boats bobbing up and down, seen from the island’s highest point.
Before we knew it, it was time to return home—but not before waving goodbye to the sea.
1. Which of the following best explains “devastated” underlined in Paragraph 1?A.Sorrowful. | B.Surprised. |
C.Thrilled. | D.Desperate. |
A.The fear of losing childhood memories. |
B.The adjustment to the new circumstances. |
C.The uncertainty of recalling childhood delight. |
D.The exposure to high temperatures and sunshine. |
A.It boasts seaside views. | B.It belongs to wild animals. |
C.It is free of the town’s noise. | D.It reminds him of his childhood. |
A.Farewell to Bournemouth. | B.Working in a wonderful place. |
C.A childhood unforgettable story. | D.Revisiting a childhood favourite. |
1.家庭:
2.工作:
3.业余生活。
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。
I often imagine what my life will be like in the future._______________________________
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内容 | 参考词汇 |
职业名称 | teacher, doctor, singer... |
选择理由 | be interested in, help people, make contributions to... |
实现方式 | work hard at, go to university... |
1. 词数 100 左右,题目已给出,不计入总词数;
2. 可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3. 不允许出现真实的姓名和校名。
My Dream Job
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4 . Do you want to live another 100 years or more? Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span.
“I think we are knocking at the door of immortality(永生),” said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. “I think by 2075 we will see it and that’s a conservative estimate(保守的估计).”
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology(纳米技术) make it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what was possible in the past. “There is a great effort so that people can live from 120 to 180 years,” he said. “Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years.”
However, many scientists who specialize in aging are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live. “It remains to be seen if you pass 120, you know; could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life?” said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Centre. “At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all.”
1. By saying“we are knocking at the door of immortality”,Michael Zey means_________.A.they have got some ideas about living forever |
B.they believe that there is no limit of living |
C.they are able to make people live past the present life span |
D.they are sure to find the truth about long living |
A.the human body is designed to last past about 120 years |
B.it is possible for humans to live longer in the future |
C.it is still doubtful how long humans can live |
D.people can live from 120 to 180 |
A.a great effort |
B.the conservative estimate |
C.the idea of living from 200 to 300 years |
D.the idea of living beyond the present life span |
A.No Limit for Human Life |
B.Living Longer or not |
C.Science,Technology and Long Living |
D.Healthy Lifestyle and Long Living |
5 . If you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would watch an original performance of a Shakespeare’s play in Elizabethan England? What about hanging out with Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period? Or maybe you’d voyage far ahead of the present day to see what the future holds.
The possibility of time travel is indeed appealing. Stories exploring the subject have been around for hundreds of years. Perhaps the best known example is the science fiction novel The Time Machine, which was written by H. G. Wells and published in 1895 for the first time. It was adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term “time machine”, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to a vehicle transporting people into the far future.
But could time travel actually be possible? Some scientists say yes, in theory. They propose using cracks in time and space called “wormholes”, which could be used as shortcuts to other periods. Einstein’s theory of relativity allows time travel in extreme circumstances. And British physicist Stephen Hawking said you could travel into the future with a really fast spaceship—going at nearly the speed of light. Though building such a spaceship would of course be no simple task.
Even if you could travel into the past, there is something called the “grandfather paradox”. It asks what would happen if a time traveller were to go back in time and have his own grandfather killed for some reason, and therefore prevent himself from being born. If the time traveller wasn’t born, how would he travel back in time?
And would you really like to visit the future? In H. G. Wells’ book, the main character travels into distant time where he arrives at a beach and is attacked by giant crabs. He then voyages 30 million years into the future where the only living thing is a black object with tentacles (触角). If that’s what’s in store, maybe we are better just living in the present day after all.
1. The novel The Time Machine mentioned in Paragraph 2 aims to show .A.people’s interest in time travel |
B.the special features of the book |
C.the long history of time travel |
D.the contribution of H. G. Wells |
A.have similarities in many ways |
B.push the invention of the first spaceship |
C.have proved wrong by some time travellers |
D.suggest the possibility to invent the time machine |
A.the traveller is prevented from meeting his grandfather |
B.the traveller goes back in time to seek for his grandfather |
C.the grandfather’s death makes the traveller’s birth impossible |
D.The reunion of the traveller and his grandfather brings happiness |
A.Unclear. | B.Skeptical. |
C.Supportive. | D.Unconcerned. |
6 . What will our world be like in 2050?
There are two features in the growth of world population. First, the annual increase in population in 15 European countries, in the past few years, has been only 300,000. The United Nations estimates (估计)that by 2050, the population of European countries will decrease from the current 0.72 billion to 0.63 billion. Second, the population in developing countries is growing rapidly. By 2050,the population of Africa is expected to reach 1.8 billion, 0.9 billion more than its current population.
A recent research report published by the United Nations indicates that it is quite possible that the Earth's temperature is rising well above the previous estimate. The Antarctic ice sheet, which contains 90% of the world's ice, has lost significant mass in the past few years. The discovery comes as a surprise to scientists, who thought that the continent would gain ice this century because of increased snowfall in a warming climate. A research team from the University of Colorado used satellite data to estimate that the ice sheet will lose up to 48 cubic miles by 2050.
Africa's rivers face great change that will leave a quarter of the continent severely short of water by the middle of the century, according to a global warming study published today. Even modest decreases in rain in western Africa will see rivers lose as much as 80% of their water and a rise of what the scientists call "water refuges(难民)”. "In those areas where there is already a water shortage, it's going to have a destructive effect," the study says,.“If you're already walking 5 km to the nearest stream, by 2050,it's going to mean walking 30 km or moving your whole household closer to the water source."
1. Which of the following situations in 2050 is NOT mentioned in the text?A.Population change. |
B.Economic decline. |
C.Global warming. |
D.Water shortage. |
A.The Antarctic ice sheet has decreased. |
B.The Earth's temperature is going down. |
C.Global warming is destroying the Earth. |
D.Snowfall increases in the Antarctic area. |
A.The ill fate of Africa's rivers. |
B.The importance of doing exercise. |
C.The hard life of the African refugees. |
D.The seriousness of the water problem. |
A.Happy. |
B.Angry. |
C.Worried. |
D.Calm. |
7 . What do you plan to do when you retire? Keep working? Get more exercise? Or learn something new? You may put them on hold. There's a chance that, sooner or later, you might have to move further than you were thinking, as far as Mars.
On Thursday, National Geographic will show the first-ever Mars show home, giving earthlings (地球人)an idea of what their life could look like on the Red Planet. In the not-so-distant year of 2037, the igloo-shaped structure could be the home of your future.
It shows a house built using recycled spacecraft parts and Martian soil, called regolith, which has been microwaved into bricks. Some parts of the home are recognizable — a kitchen, a bedroom — but there are fundamental differences that are important to human survival.
As the Martian atmosphere is around one hundredth as thick as the Earth’s, people will need permanent (永久的) shelter from the sun;society will move largely indoors. Most buildings will be connected by underground passages and the houses won't have windows. The homes will have simulated solar lighting, or natural light that has been bent several times. Walls will need to be 10 to 12 feet thick, to protect people from dangerous rays (光线)that can pass through six feet of steel, and a double air-locked entrance to keep the home under proper pressure.
"We don’t think of our houses as things that keep us alive, but on Mars your house will be a survival centre, 99 says Stephen Petranek, author of How We’ll Live on Mars. This is not just the stuff of sci-fi. “10 to 20 years from now there will certainly be people on Mars,” Petranek says.
“We’ve had the technology for 30 years to land people on Mars, but we haven’t had the will, ”Petranek says. But two main factors have “completely swung public attitudes”.
The private companies’ participation has forced government agencies to speed up their game, and influential films such as Gravity and The Martian have caught society’s eye.
1. What do the underlined words "put them on hold" in paragraph 1 probably mean?A.Put them off. | B.Give them away. |
C.Carry them through. | D.Take them seriously. |
A.It has no windows or doors due to security concern. |
B.Its design presents the idea of environmental protection. |
C.It has thick walls keeping the home under propel pressure. |
D.Its underground passages connect all the buildings together. |
A.The development of related technology. |
B.The competition from private companies. |
C.The great influence of the Mars show home. |
D.The popularity of influential books on Mars. |
A.Living on Mars: Possible or Not | B.Sending People to Mars: Yes or No |
C.First-Ever Show Home: How Is It Made | D.Future Home on Mars: What Will It Be like |
注意:1.词数80词左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
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要点:1.家庭;2.工作;3.业余生活。
注意:1.写作词数为80左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡相应位置作答。
Me in 10 Years
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10 . Self-driving cars are so popular that the University of Michigan has even established a town called Mcity to allow car manufacturers to safely test their autonomous cars.
While Mcity can be used to simulate(模拟)many real-life road conditions,it can't help test gestures drivers use to communicate their intention(意图)to other drivers,pedestrians or cyclists. To find a solution,US car manufacturer Ford,with researchers from Virginia Tech,at the beginning considered using text as a way to communicate the car's intention,but decided it would probably not work universally. The option of using symbols was also rejected,because research shows that a majority of people do not have a good understanding of what they mean.
Finally, the researchers settled on light signals. A white light warned that there were no humans in the car. A slow blinking one indicated that the car was coming to a stop, while a rapidly flashing light cautioned passersby that the car was about to speed up.
Then came the big challenge—testing the signals on real roads. "We needed to try out this new lighting to communicate the intention of the vehicle, but if you've got a driver behind the seat, you still have natural communication between humans," said Andy Shaudt, who led the research team. "So we needed to make it look like a driverless car."
The team designed a car seat costume(戏装)that the driver would wear to cover his or her face and upper body. Of course,the drivers could see very clearly. The researchers then equipped the car with cameras to capture human reactions to a light bar,which flashed one of the three signals when appropriate. Six drivers,all keeping their hands low on the wheel so as not to be noticed,took turns to test driving the car through the busy streets.
The overall reaction to the flashing lights was very encouraging. Who knew costumes could be useful for more than Halloween?
1. What did the team first consider using as a way to communicate the car's intention?A.Light. | B.Language. |
C.Symbols. | D.Sound. |
A.symbols | B.drivers |
C.researchers | D.flashes |
A.The car was coming to a stop. |
B.There was no driver in the car. |
C.The car was about to speed up. |
D.The car was about to slow down. |
A.amuse the driver | B.attract the pedestrians |
C.warn the cyclists | D.confuse the people |