1 . Color is fundamental in home design—something you’ll always have in every room. A grasp of how to manage color in your spaces is one of the first steps to creating rooms you’ll love to live in. Do you want a room that’s full of life? Professional? Or are you just looking for a place to relax after a long day?     1    , color is the key to making a room feel the way you want it to feel.

Over the years, there have been a number of different techniques to help designers approach this important point.     2    , they can get a little complex. But good news is that there’re really only three kinds of decisions you need to make about color in your home: the small ones, the medium ones, and the large ones.

    3    . They’re the little spots of color like throw pillows, mirrors and baskets that most of us use to add visual interest to our rooms. Less tiring than painting your walls and less expensive than buying a colorful sofa, small color choices bring with them the significant benefit of being easily changeable.

Medium color choices are generally furniture pieces such as sofas, dinner tables or bookshelves.     4    . They require a bigger commitment than smaller ones, and they have a more powerful effect on the feeling of a space.

The large color decisions in your rooms concern the walls, ceilings, and floors. Whether you’re looking at wallpaper or paint, the time, effort and relative expense put into it are significant.     5    .

A．While all of them are useful

B．Whatever you’re looking for

C．If you’re experimenting with a color

D．Small color choices are the ones we’re most familiar with

E．It’s not really a good idea to use too many small color pieces

F．So it pays to be sure, because you want to get it right the first time

G．Color choices in this range are a step up from the small ones in two major ways

2 . Washington, D.C. Bicycle Tours

Cherry Blossom Bike Tour in Washington, D.C.

Duration: 3 hours

This small group bike tour is a fantastic way to see a world-famous cherry trees with beautiful flowers of Washington, D.C. Your guide will provide a history lesson about the trees and the famous monuments where they blossom. Reserve your spot before availability — the cherry blossoms—disappear!

Washington Capital Monuments Bicycle Tour

Duration: 3 hours (4 miles)

Join a guided bike tour and view some of the most popular monuments in Washington, D.C. Explore the monuments and memorials on the National Mall as your guide shares unique facts and history at each stop. Guided tour includes bike, helmet, cookies and bottled water.

Capital City Bike Tour In Washington, D.C.

Duration: 3 hours

Morning or Afternoon, this bike tour is the perfect tour for D. C. newcomers and locals looking to experience Washington, D.C. in a healthy way with minimum effort. Knowledgeable guides will entertain you with the most, interesting stories about Presidents, Congress, memorials, and parks. Comfortable bikes and a smooth tour route(路线) make cycling between the sites fun and relaxing.

Washington Capital Sites at Night Bicycle Tour

Duration: 3 hours (7miles)

Join a small group bike tour for an evening of exploration in the heart of Washington, D.C. Get up close to the monuments and memorials as you bike the sites of Capitol Hill and the National Mall. Frequent stops are made for photo taking as your guide offers unique facts and history. Tour includes bike, helmet, and bottled water. All riders are equipped with reflective vests and safety lights.

1. Which tour do you need to book in advance?

A．Cherry Blossom Bike Tour in Washington, D.C.

B．Washington Capital Monuments Bicycle Tour.

C．Capital City Bike Tour in Washington.

D．Washington Capital Sites at Night Bicycle Tour.

2. What will you do on the Capital City Bike Tour?

A．Meet famous people.	B．Go to a national park.
C．Visit well-known museums.	D．Enjoy interesting stories.

3. Which of the following does the bicycle tour at night provide?

A．City maps.	B．Cameras.
C．Meals.	D．Safety lights.

3 . To fight for the conservation of forest ecosystem, several ecologists including Daniel Janzen convinced Del Oro, an orange juice producer, to donate part of their forestland to a national park. In return, Del Oro was allowed to throw large amounts of waste in the form of orange peels (皮) on a 3-hectare piece of land within the national park at no cost. Dealing with tons of leftover peels usually involved burning them or paying to have them poured into a landfill, so the proposal was very attractive.

But a year later, another juice company challenged the deal in court, arguing that their competitor was “polluting a national park”. They ended up winning, and the deal between Del Oro and the national park fell through.

Then in 2013, while discussing possible research avenues with Timothy Treuer, Daniel Janzen mentioned the orange story. Feeling interested, Treuer decided to stop by that piece of land that had been covered with fruit waste 15 years earlier. What he found shocked him.

“While I would walk over exposed rock and dead grass in the nearby fields, I’d have to climb through undergrowth and cut paths through walls of vines (藤) in the orange peel site itself.” said Timothy Treuer.

Treuer and his team spent months picking up samples (样品), analyzing and comparing them. They found great differences between the areas covered with orange peels and those that were not. The area with orange waste had richer soil.

The effect that the orange peels had on the land is probably not that surprising to people familiar with composting (施肥), but what is really shocking is that a judge actually thought the waste of orange “mined” a national park and stopped it from going forward. Now that Timothy Treuer’s study has received worldwide attention, this type of “ruining” is being seriously considered as a way of bringing forests back to life.

1. What did Del Oro usually do with orange peels?

A．Add them to fuel.	B．Throw them into a national park.
C．Bum or bury them.	D．Make them into cakes.

2. What can we know about the deal between Del Oro and the national park?

A．It lasted 15 years.	B．It was signed by Treuer.
C．It was made in about 1998.	D．It was broken by Del Oro.

3. What was Treuer’s finding?

A．Orange peels contain much fibre.

B．Orange peels can make soil richer.

C．Orange peels rot away in a short time.

D．Orange waste ruined the national park.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward the judge mentioned in the last paragraph?

A．Disapproving.	B．Positive.
C．Worried.	D．Admirable.

4 . A rainforest is an area     1     (cover) by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading quite equally through the year. Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate.    2     the forest cover, these areas would reflect more heat into the atmosphere,    3     (warm) the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns, potentially causing certain natural disasters all over the world.

In the past hundred years, humans     4     (begin) destroying rainforests in search of three major resources: land for crops, wood for paper and other products, land for raising farm     5     (animal). This action affects the environment as a whole. For example, a lot of carbon dioxide in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People     6     (obvious) have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees,    7     we will suffer much more than we will benefit.

Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25% of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However, fewer than 1% of rainforest plants have been examined for their     8     (medicine) value. It is extremely likely     9     our best chance to cure diseases     10     (lie) somewhere in the world’s shrinking rainforests.

5 . Octopuses (章鱼) are sea animals famous for their rounded bodies, bulging eyes, and eight long arms. They live in all the world’s oceans but there are especially more octopuses in warm, tropical (热带的) waters. Octopuses, like their cousin, the squid (乌贼), are often considered “monsters of the deep”, though some species, or types, occupy relatively shallow waters.

Most octopuses stay along the ocean’s floor, although some species are pelagic, which means they live near the water’s surface. Other octopus species live in deep, dark waters, rising from below at dawn and dusk to search for food. Crabs and shrimps rank among their favorite foods, though some can attack larger prey (猎物), like sharks. Octopuses typically drop down on their prey from above and, using powerful suctions that line their arms, pull the animals into their mouths. The octopus performs its famous backward swim by blowing up water through a muscular tube on the body called a siphon. Octopuses also crawl (爬) along the ocean’s floor, putting their arms into small openings to search for food Seals, whales, and large fish prey on octopuses.

If threatened, octopuses shoot an inky liquid that darkens the water, confusing the other animals. The octopus can also change to gray, brown, pink, blue, or green to mix with its surroundings. Octopuses may also change color as a way to communicate with other octopuses. Octopuses are solitary creatures that live alone in dens (巢穴) built from rocks, which the octopus moves into place using its powerful arms. Octopuses sometimes even fashion a rock “door” for their dens that pull closed when the octopus is safely inside.

1. In which place can we find more Octopuses?

A．The ocean near Hainan.	B．The river near Canada.
C．The Arctic Ocean.	D．The South Pole.

2. What is a way for Octopuses to communicate with each other?

A．Using special signals.	B．Making special sounds.
C．Living together in a group.	D．Changing their own colors.

3. What do we know about Octopuses?

A．They just stay in deep ocean.

B．They eat food by using their teeth.

C．They don’t like hunting large animals.

D．They shoot an inky liquid to avoid dangers.

6 . 语法填空

For you, the "Clear and Bright" day that falls in every April might be no more than just another holiday — the fact that it comes with three days off school matters to most students     1    (much) than the fact that it is part of the 24 solar terms (二十四节气).

But this ancient system that Chinese people have used     2    (keep) track of the time of year was added to the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (人类非物质文化遗产)on Nov. 30.

To be fair, the terms do sound old; they     3    (invent) thousands of years ago to offer weather information for agricultural     4    (activity). But the truth is     5    they still have an influence on our lives today, even if we don’t realize it most of the time. For example, people from     6    (north) China are in the habit of eating dumplings     7    the day of the winter solstice (冬至). And on the start of autumn, some treat     8    (they) to a big feast, especially of meat, something they call "putting on autumn weight", or tieqiubiao.

According to Chinese writer and academic Yu Shicun, the system is a philosophy of time,     9    applies to everything. And this means they are     10    (likely) to die out.

7 . “One thing I enjoy about my job is that I can work on something that is actually active,” says Game McGimsey, an American volcanologist (火山学家). Part of his job includes keeping an eye on Alaska’s many active volcanoes and giving people a heads-up when a volcano might erupt (喷发).

Like most jobs in the sciences, volcanology requires a lot of education. McGimsey received an undergraduate degree in geology at the University of North Carolina, then landed an internship (实习期) with a geologist at the USGS (美国地质勘探局) whose area of expertise was volcanoes. After earning a graduate degree at the University of Colorado, McGimsey accepted a job with the USGS and has been with the Alaska Volcano Observatory for 25 years.

Volcanoes can influence the world in ways we might not think about. For example, on Dec. 15, 1989, a 747 jetliner (a large airplane) flew through a thick ash (灰) cloud produced by Mount Redoubt, an Alaskan volcano that hadn’t erupted in 25 years. The ash caused all four engines to die, and the plane’s electronics went dead.

“The plane was within several thousand feet of flying into the mountains below when the pilots got a couple of the engines restarted and landed safely in Anchorage,” McGimsey says. It cost nearly $80 million to repair the damage to the plane.

Such situations show just how dangerous volcanoes can be. However, volcanologists know the risks and are prepared to protect themselves.

“There is certainly a higher danger level in volcanology than some other jobs,” McGimsey admits. “We understand how serious the danger is, and we don’t like taking unnecessary chances. We avoid getting too close to an erupting volcano, because it's not worth injury or death simply to get a rock or a photograph.”

1. Before working for the USGS, McGimsey _____.

A．had been a pilot for 25 years

B．knew nothing about the organization

C．had taught at the University of North Carolina

D．had studied at the University of Colorado

2. On Dec. 15, 1989, a 747 jetliner _____.

A．had all its engines restarted

B．flew into a volcano in Europe

C．survived an air accident luckily

D．disappeared in a huge ash cloud

3. What McGimsey says in the last paragraph shows his _____.

A．pride	B．carefulness
C．loneliness	D．doubt

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Game McGimsey: a man of his word

B．Game McGimsey: a volcano watcher

C．The eruption of Mount Redoubt

D．Lost land of the volcano

8 . 根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。The pine tree is a special kind of tree.    1    This is because many people put pine trees in their homes at Christmas time. They decorate the tree with colored lights, and put Christmas presents under the tree.Pine trees are different from other trees because most other trees lose their leaves in winter.    2    So pine trees are also called evergreens.    3    They have hard, thin leaves called needles. Pine trees also have pine cones. Pine cones look like hard berries. If you walk in a forest, you will see many pine cones on the ground.    4    When the seeds fall to the ground, a new tree starts to grow.    5    The wood is used to make furniture and boats. Many kinds of birds build their nests in pine trees. The seeds of pine trees are food for small animals such as squirrels and mice and for bigger animals such as rabbits and black bears. The needles are good food for large animals such as deer and moose when they cannot find anything to eat in the winter.If you walk in a forest of pine trees, the air has a wonderful smell. In winter, the white snow on the dark green trees looks very beautiful.

A．Pine trees stay green all year long, even in winter.

B．Pine trees do not have soft leaves like the maple tree.

C．Some people call the pine tree a Christmas tree.

D．Pine trees are very beautiful all year round.

E．Pine trees are valuable for many reasons.

F．Inside the pine cones are seeds.

G．The seeds inside the pine cones are the favorite food for some animals.

9 . 根据短文内容,从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
There are thousands of coral reefs (珊瑚礁) in the world; Unfortunately, however, they are now in serious danger. More than one-third are in such bad shape that they could die within ten years.    1    Here are the three main causes discovered.
The first cause is pollution on land. The pollutants run with rainwater into rivers and streams, which carry the poisons into the ocean.    2    So they will be easily infected (感染) with diseases.
    3    Higher ocean temperatures kill the important food source (来源) for the coral—the algae, the tiny greenish-gold water plants that live on coral.    4    This process has happened more and more frequently in recent years.
The last factor contributing to the disappearance of coral reefs is people. People sometimes crash into reefs with their boats, breaking off large blocks of coral.    5    Moreover, some people even break coral off to collect for souvenirs since it is so colorful and pretty.

A．Global warming is another reason.

B．Many might not even last that long!

C．Divers who walk on reefs can also do serious damage.

D．Reefs provide a home for 25% of the fish in the ocean.

E．Chemicals from the poisons kill reefs or make them weak.

F．Steps must be taken now to stop over-fishing and pollution of the oceans.

G．When the algae die, the coral loses its color and it also dies in the end.

10 . Honey from the African forest is not only a kind of natural sugar, it is also delicious. Most people, and many animals, like eating it. However, the only way for them to get that honey is to find a wild bees' nest and take the honey from it. Often, these nests are high up in trees, and it is difficult to find them. In parts of Africa, though, people and animals looking for honey have a strange and unexpected helper—a little bird called a honey guide.

The honey guide does not actually like honey, but it does like the wax in the beehives. The little bird cannot reach this wax, which is deep inside the bees' nest. So, when it finds a suitable nest, it looks for someone to help it. The honey guide gives a loud cry that attracts the attention of both passing animals and people. Once it has their attention, it flies through the forest, waiting from time to time for the curious animal or person as it leads them to the nest. When they finally arrive at the nest, the follower reaches in to get at the delicious honey as the bird patiently waits and watches. Some of the honey, and the wax, always falls to the ground, and this is when the honey guide takes its share.

Scientists do not know why the honey guide likes eating the wax, but it is very distance away. They will quickly arrive whenever a beekeeper is taking honey from his beehives, and will even enter churches when beeswax candles are being lit.

1. Why is it difficult to find a wild bees' nest?

A．It's small in size.	B．It's hidden in trees.
C．It's covered with wax.	D．It's hard to recognize.

2. What do the words “the follower” in Paragraph 2 refer to?

A．A bee.

B．A bird.

C．A honey seeker.

D．A beekeeper.

3. The honey guide is special in the way ______.

A．it gets its food	B．it goes to church
C．it sings in the forest	D．it reaches into bees' nests

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Wild Bees	B．Wax and Honey
C．Beekeeping in Africa	D．Honey-Lover's Helper