1 . When most people hear the words “Big Ben” they immediately think of the attractive Victorian Gothic structure of the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster. Let’s clear up a common misunderstanding first; technically speaking, the name “Big Ben” does not refer to the famous tower, nor to the four huge clock faces of this London landmark; instead, it refers to the largest one of the five bells inside the clock tower.

Construction of the tower was begun following the disastrous fire which destroyed the old Palace of Westminster in 1834. Charles Barry was responsible for rebuilding the Palace, and his designs included a clock tower.

It took 16 years to build the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster and it was completed in 1859. The tower is 316 feet high. The spire of the tower is built with an iron frame, and it is this frame which supports the weight of the bells. Several small rooms are built into the lower part of the tower, including a small prison cell.

The iron frame of the clock face was designed by AW Pugin, who was responsible for many of the Gothic decorative elements of the Palace of Westminster. The dials are 23 feet in diameter and the faces themselves are not solid, but are made up of many small pieces of opal glass, like a glass window. Several of the central pieces of glass can be removed to make it easier for people to check the hands of the clock from inside.

At the time of its construction the clock movement was easily the largest in the world, and it is still among the largest today. The clock, designed by Edmund Beckett Denison, has proven to be very accurate over the years.

Big Ben — the hour bell — is said to have been named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was known for his great size, as is the bell! The first Big Ben hour bell was completed before the tower, so the bell was hung in New Palace Yard. After repeated public ringing the bell cracked and had to be replaced by the current bell.

1. The name “Big Ben” actually refers to ____.

A．the famous tower	B．the huge clock faces
C．the biggest bell inside	D．the designer of the tower

2. From the text, we know that the clock tower ___________.

A．was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison	B．was built in 1844
C．is more than 300 feet high	D．has no rooms in it

3. What is the benefit of the opal glass clock faces?

A．Opal glass is cheaper than solid materials.	B．The huge body makes it much easier to see.
C．The glass is solid enough.	D．Pieces of glass can be removed to check the hands.

4. From the text, we can infer that ________.

A．Sir Benjamin Hall was a famous architect	B．the first hour bell has worked till now
C．the bells are hung inside the spire of the tower	D．the clock is not accurate now

2 . Think about the different ways that people use the wind. You can use it to fly a kite or to sail a boat. Wind is one of our cleanest and richest power sources, as well as one of the oldest. Evidence shows that windmills (风车) began to be used in ancient Iran back in the 7th century BC. They were first introduced to Europe during the 1100s, when armies returned from the Middle East with knowledge of using wind power.

For many centuries, people used windmills to grind (磨碎) wheat into flour or pump water from deep underground. When electricity was discovered in the late 1800s, people living in remote (偏远的) areas began to use them to produce electricity. This allowed them to have electric lights and radio. However, by the 1940s when electricity was available (可利用的) to people in almost all areas of the United States, windmills were seldom used.

During the 1970s, people started becoming concerned about the pollution that is created when coal and gas are burned to produce electricity. People also realized that the supply of coal and gas would not last forever. Then, wind was rediscovered, though it means higher costs. Today, there is a global movement to supply more and more of our electricity through the use of wind.

1. From the text we know that windmills ________.

A．were invented by European armies

B．used to supply power to radio in remote areas

C．have a history of more than 2,800 years

D．have rarely been used since electricity was discovered

2. What was a new use for wind power in the late 19^th century?

A．Producing electricity.	B．Sailing a boat.
C．Grinding wheat into flour.	D．Pumping water from ground.

3. One of the reasons wind was rediscovered in the 1970s is that ________.

A．the supply of coal and gas failed to meet needs

B．it is one of the oldest power sources

C．it was cheaper to create energy from wind

D．wind power is cleaner

3 . 为配合学校开展的垃圾分类工作，学生会向全校学生发出了“垃圾分类，从我做起”的倡议。请你代表学生会，用英语写一封倡议书，内容包括：
①垃圾分类的做法；
②垃圾分类的益处；
③呼吁全体学生一起参加。
注意：1. 词数在80左右；2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：垃圾分类 garbage classification；
厨余垃圾 leftovers；
废旧电池 used batteries.
Dear fellow students，

Our school has started a program of garbage classification.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . On November 7, Lewis Pugh completed a one-kilometer swim in the freezing waters of King Edward Cove, off South Georgia in Antarctica. He was wearing only his swimming glasses, cap and Speedo !

Pugh is an advocate for our oceans and seas, working to protect these ecosystems with their large diversity of marine life. When asked why he doesn't wear a wetsuit(防寒泳衣), Pugh says, "I ask world leaders to do everything they can to protect our oceans. Sometimes the steps they need to take are difficult and unpopular. If I'm asking them to be courageous, I must also be. Swimming in a wetsuit would not send the right message."

It took Pugh about 19 minutes to complete the one-kilometer swim in Antarctica where the water averaged about 1.6 degrees Celsius. He says that his body can only tolerate about 20 minutes in the freezing waters before it starts shutting down. As he swims, his body temperature steadily drops, which in turn causes his muscle control to drop, slowing him down. When he is done with his swim, his support team rushes him to a hot shower and it takes almost an hour for his body temperature to return to normal.

Doctors and Pugh caution that one must receive months of training to swim in such cold waters. Even expert swimmers who are unused to freezing water can drown within minutes because of the physical shock experienced by the body. Pugh says he trained for six months before this swim.

This is not the first time that Pugh has swum in dangerous conditions. In 2007, he swam one kilometer in the North Pole to draw attention to the melting Arctic ice due to climate change. In 2015, he swam in the Bay of Whales in Antarctica's Ross Sea as part of his successful campaign to help set up a marine reserve there.

1. Why did Lewis Pugh swim without a wetsuits ?

A．To show his bravery.

B．To swim faster.

C．To build up his body.

D．To have overnight fame.

2. What does the underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 refer to'?

A．His body temperature.

B．His body

C．The water.

D．The water temperature.

3. What's Pugh's advice about swimming in freezing waters?

A．One should be expert at swimming.

B．One must be used to long-distance swimming.

C．One should be ready to take on challenges.

D．One must be adequately prepared for it.

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

A．Lewis Pugh: achieving the impossible

B．How to survive a swim in cold waters

C．Lewis Pugh: swimming for a cause

D．How to prepare for extreme swimming

5 . 为了配合广州市开展的垃圾分类工作，学生会向全校同学发出了“垃圾分类，从我做起”的倡议。请你代表学生会，在学校的英语墙报上发表一封倡议书，内容包括：
① 为什么要垃圾分类；
② 垃圾分类的益处；
③ 呼吁全体学生一起参加。
注意：
1. 词数在100左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：垃圾分类garbage classification
Dear fellow students,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Students’ Union

6 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Tourism can be both good and bad. Yes, it has brought in money for the local economy and    1    (create) jobs for locals, but it has also brought some problems.

One growing problem is tourists who want to prove    2    they have visited a destination.Tourists have used paint, rocks, or even    3    (key)to write on many places of interest. I have three words for people like this: please stop it. If you   want to leave a mark on the world, do it    4    changing someone’s life with kindness and love.

Another big problem in some places is tourists disturbing the local people and life. Some tourists take pictures of local people without asking for their    5    (permit).Some tourists love to party there late into the night,    6    (make)it difficult for locals to sleep. I have three words for tourists like this: please be    7    (consider).Have fun in a way that does not disturb others. The number of problems from tourists    8    (be)endless.The only way    9    (solve) the problem of the terrible tourist is to make sure that you are not one! Be    10    best, kindest, most polite tourist possible. Remember, whenever you step outside your country’s borders, you are representing your country to the rest of the world.

7 . In 2017, the BBC documentary Spy in the Wild (《荒野间谍》) gave us a chance to look much more closely into the world of animals through the eyes of “animal spies”.    1     They “live” together with animals in order to record their lives.

Returning for its second season, Spy in the Wild follows the tradition of the first season while introducing new cameras and robots.     2     For example, a spy turtle can lay robot eggs, a spy squirrel can gather robot nuts, and monkeys can play with a spy snowball.

In the new season, more than 50 spy robots are sent to study animals in all kinds of environments, from under the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic.     3     They study the emotional connections that are shared between animals firsthand. For example, a spy penguin was accepted as part of a group in South Georgia Island.     4    “Quite accidentally, our spy creature is at the center of something special, capturing (捕捉到) emotions that have seldom been watched,” series narrator (旁白) David Tennant told CNET. 

    5    “The whole point is ... trying to get closer than we ever have before to capture those elusive (难以得到的) moments when they start to show the kind of emotions we have,”director John Downer told PBS.

A．It won lots of praise from the audience.

B．But these spies don’t just record everyday goings-on.

C．These spies are actually robots with cameras that look like real animals.

D．With the help of these robots, these “animal spies” can do many things.

E．It uncovers how different we are compared to our animal cousins.

F．The documentary aims to record animal behavior that we would rarely see.

G．It watched on as penguin parents tried hard to make it home to feed their chicks.

8 . Nola (August 21, 1974—November 22, 2015) was a northern white rhino who lived at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park near Escondido, California. At her death, she was one of only four remaining northern white rhinos in the world. The other three lived in Kenya. World Rhino Day,   held on September 2,   is to raise awareness(意识) of the less than 30, 000 other rhinos left on Earth.

''Rhinos need our help today, not tomorrow,'' Nola's lead keeper Jane Kennedy said. ''Last year we lost over 1, 200 rhinos just in South Africa. If we continue to lose more than 1, 000 rhinos a year, in 10 to 20 years all the rhinos on the planet will be gone. ''

''Unfortunately, most animals are in danger of dying out because of humans,'' Kennedy says. ''Humans have either poached animals, or because there are over seven billion of us, we've taken up too much of the world's resources''. Poachers illegally hunt rhinos for their horns. They sell the horns for thousands of dollars per pound, to be used for art, jewelry, and decorations. Experts believe that one rhino is poached every eight hours.

In 1975,   the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research started the Frozen Zoo,   a program through which researchers have collected cell (细胞) samples from more than 8, 000 different types of animals,   including the northern white rhino. Scientists hope that by studying the rhino cells, they will get greater understanding of it, and will find ways to increase its numbers.

Jane Kennedy describes World Rhino Day as a celebration of rhinos along with an awareness campaign for everybody across the world to know that rhinos need our help. ''At the San Diego Zoo, children and adults are welcome to visit and speak with zookeepers to learn about rhinos. But you don't have to live in San Diego to celebrate World Rhino Day. It is observed around the world, with zoos and wildlife parks holding special events and programs to teach people about rhinos, and enable them to see the animals up close. For more information, go to www. worldrhinoday. org.

1. What do we know about Nola?

A．It was a baby white rhino.

B．It was one of the last of its kind.

C．It lived with other northern white rhinos in Kenya.

D．It died on September 22 at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

2. What troubled Jane Kennedy according to Paragraph 2?

A．The rhinos' uncertain future.

B．The rhinos' strange activities.

C．The limited natural resources.

D．The rare animals in South Africa.

3. What does the Frozen Zoo aim to do?

A．Invent new kinds of animals.

B．Keep animals from dying out.

C．Prevent rhinos from being hunted.

D．Raise public awareness of rhinos.

4. What is the main purpose of the last paragraph?

A．To help people know more about animals.

B．To encourage people to protect rhinos.

C．To report special events in San Diego.

D．To introduce World Rhino Day.

9 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

Chickens are excellent natural enemies of locusts (蝗虫). On average, one chicken can catch over 600 locusts a day and can cover 0.6 acre of grassland.

    1     (official) in China’s Xinjiang have handed out over 2,200 chickens to local farmers,     2     (hope) to control locusts. There has been a decline in the locust population in several counties     3     the measure has been adopted.

A report predicted     4     (high) than normal incidents of locusts for the northern part of China,     5     (main) owing to warmer winter temperatures. Nearly 10,000 acres in Wushi County have already been destroyed by locusts.

Previous efforts to kill locusts in Xinjiang included pesticides that, while effective, also     6     (end) up killing off beneficial insects and harming the ecosystem. Alternatively, only 100 chickens last year in Wushi County were able to effectively limit damage     7     more than 1,300 acres.

This isn’t the first time China     8     (use) birds against locusts. A Telegraph story described how the government trained 700,000 chickens and ducks     9     (run) after and consume locusts at the sound of a whistle. The campaign, which included nearly 280,000 people, was a response to the country’s worst locust outbreak in    10    quarter century.

10 . Ice volcanoes erupted on the shores of Lake Michigan last weekend, and an employee from National Weather Service ( NWS) caught sight of an astonishing scene on the spot. “You never know what you'll find at the lake until you go out there," the employee said, "Today it were volcanoes. ”

Despite their nickname, ice volcanoes aren't really volcanoes at all. They form at the edges of lakes, where thin sheets of ice form, and water shoots through holes in the ice, Water flows beneath the ice sheet and builds up enough pressure to push water to the surface. If the air above is cold enough, the released water freezes over the surrounding ground, forming a mini volcano of sorts.

Ice volcanoes can be very dangerous to climb on because they are empty inside and built over that hole in the ice. Although some frozen volcanoes were discovered a few years ago, it is still rare to witness one.

Ice volcanoes typically form near large bodies of water where freezing temperatures below allow an ice shelf to form over the water’s surface along the coastline. Meanwhile, waves beneath the shelf must be strong enough to crack the ice and push water out. For this reason, ice volcanoes tend to form along shorelines where winds blow up waves constantly.

For example, when the Oval Beach volcanoes were spotted, the wind was almost due west, which was perfect for pushing waves right into the shoreline at this location. Due to their superior size, the Great Lakes may be more likely to form ice volcanoes along their shores than smaller lakes.

So if you want to see an ice volcano in person, the Great Lakes may be your best choice—but be cautious where you step!

1. What did the NWS employee discover in Paragraph 1?

A．The eruption of ice volcanoes.	B．Volcanoes erupting on the mountain.
C．Frozen shores of Lake Michigan.	D．An ordinary scene of Lake Michigan.

2. What can we learn about ice volcanoes according to the passage?

A．They appear whenever it is freezing.	B．They are real volcanoes in the ocean.
C．It is uncommon to see their eruptions.	D．It takes years to form an ice volcano.

3. Where do the ice volcanoes usually form?

A．Shorelines with suitable weather conditions.

B．Smaller lakes where wind direction is perfect.

C．Along shorelines where waves are not powerful.

D．In the center of the ocean or large bodies of water.

4. What is this passage mainly about?

A．Dangers of ice volcanoes.	B．Ice volcanoes and their formation.
C．Different kinds of volcanoes.	D．The Great Lakes and ice volcanoes.