1 . Amsterdam is one of the most popular travel destinations in the world, famous for its beautiful canals, top art museums, cycling culture and so on. It is the capital city of the Netherlands and often referred to as the “Venice of the North” because of its expansive system of bridges and canals. Here are some of the key points to remember as you plan your trip to Amsterdam.
Must-See Attractions
Most visitors begin their Amsterdam adventure in the Old Centre, which is full of traditional architecture, shopping centers, and coffee shops. You’ll also want to check out Amsterdam’s Museum Quarter in the South District, which is great for shopping at the Albert Cuyp Market and having a picnic in the Vondelpark. The top museums to visit there are the Rijksmusuem, the Ann Frank House, and the Van Gogh Museum.
If You Have Time
There are several other unique districts in Amsterdam, and you should try to explore as many of them as time allows. The Canal Ring is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that was originally built to attract wealthy home owners and is a center for celebrity spotting and nightlife today. The Plantage area has most of the city’s museums and the botanical gardens.
Money Saving Tips
●Unless you really want to see the tulips(郁金香) blooming, avoid booking between mid-March and mid-May. This is when hotel and flight prices rise.
●Look for accommodations in Amsterdam’s South District, where rates are generally cheaper than in the city center.
●Buy train tickets at the machine instead of the counter to save a bit of money.
●Instead of hiring a tour guide, hop on a canal boat. They’re inexpensive and will give you a unique point of view of the city.
Check out our homepage to view price comparisons for flights, hotels, and rental cars before you book.
1. What can be learned about Amsterdam from this passage?| A．The Van Gogh Museum lies in the South District. |
| B．The Canal Ring is a place to attract garden lovers. |
| C．The Old Centre is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. |
| D．Amsterdam is called the “Venice of the North” because of its location. |
| A．arrange a guided tour | B．buy train tickets at the counter |
| C．reserve a hotel in the South District | D．book flights between mid-March and mid-May |
| A．A magazine. | B．An essay. | C．A report. | D．A website. |
2 . When we see a person in trouble, the first idea that comes to our mind is to lend a hand. But what if we see an animal in trouble, does the same rule apply?
This question was raised after a group of penguins (企鹅) were saved from an icy gully (峡谷) in Antarctica. It was filmed for the BBC wildlife series Dynasties. The film crew were anxious when they saw that a group of penguins had fallen into a gully and been trapped with their young. They built a slope (斜坡) so that a few of the penguins could save themselves.
The case has taken the international media by storm. Viewers watching this film sighed in relief. “I’m so glad. I understand not taking action directly, but a helping hand isn’t bothering, right?” viewer Kathryn Shaw said on her Facebook.
However, others think human interference (干涉) is unnatural. “You can’t have sunshine throughout your life. To have done anything else would only make matters worse.” said the show’s creator David Attenborough, according to TheTimes.
In this case, however, Mike Gunton, the executive producer of the series, said that this was a one-off situation. “There were no animals going to suffer by interfering. You weren’t touching the animals and it was just felt by doing this …They had the chance not to have to keep slipping down the slope.” he told the BBC.
Such cases are familiar to Paul Nicklen, wildlife photographer for National Geographic. He told Metro, “If it’s ever a predator (捕食者) situation, no matter how gut-wrenching, you stay out of the way. Even when you’re watching a male polar bear eat a baby bear.”
“There’s no rule book in those situations. You can only respond to the facts that are right there in front of you.” Will Lawson, the show’s director, told Daily Mail.
1. What has led to a heated media discussion?| A．The rescue of penguins from a gully. |
| B．People’s various opinions on penguins. |
| C．Some penguins’ sufferings in a gully. |
| D．Ways of filming the series Dynasties. |
| A．David Attenborough. | B．Will Lawson. |
| C．Paul Nicklen. | D．Kathryn Shaw. |
| A．Making one confused. | B．Making one heartbroken. |
| C．Putting one in danger. | D．Making one amazed. |
| A．Necessity of Lending a Hand to Animals |
| B．Protect Animals From Dying Out |
| C．Human Interference on Dangerous Animals |
| D．Help Animals in Trouble or Not |
3 . Scientists say the plant enset, an Ethiopian staple (主食), could be a new superfood and a lifesaver in the face of climate change. “This is a crop that can play a really important role in addressing food security and sustainable development,” said a university professor in Awasa, Ethiopia.
Enset, or “false banana”, is a close relative of the banana but is consumed only in one part of Ethiopia. The banana-like fruit of the plant is inedible (无法食用的), but the stems and roots can be processed to make porridge and bread.
However, Ethiopia is isolated (隔离) by dry lowlands, which are unsuitable for enset to grow. And the procedures for enset raising and preparing require special knowledge. Therefore, despite its wild relatives distributing across Africa, enset is only used as a crop in Ethiopia and has never been widely adopted elsewhere.
Using agricultural surveys and modelling work, scientists found the crop could potentially feed more than 100 million people and boost food security in Ethiopia and other African countries.
Study researcher Dr James Borrell, of the Royal Botanic Gardens, said planting enset as an alternative crop for tough times could help support food security. “It’s got some really unusual characteristics that make it absolutely unique as a crop,” he said. Reaching ten meters tall, as few as 15 enset plants can feed a person for a year. Also, it has flexible harvest times, stores well, and is relatively drought and disease tolerant. All these features have earned it the name, “the tree against hunger”.
There is growing interest in seeking new plants to feed the world. Nearly half of all the calories we eat come from three species - rice, wheat, and corns. “We need to diversify the plants we use globally as a staple because all our eggs are in a very small basket at the moment,” said Dr Borrell.
1. What can we know about enset?| A．It is widely consumed in Ethiopia. | B．Its stems and roots can serve as a staple. |
| C．It is mainly grown in dry lowlands. | D．It distributes throughout the world. |
| A．Lack of related knowledge. | B．Poor quality of farmland. |
| C．Low productivity. | D．Strict storage condition. |
| A．Its advantages. | B．Its edibility. | C．Its variety. | D．Its distribution. |
| A．People are fed up with existing staples. | B．A world of biodiversity is needed. |
| C．Crop varieties should be increased. | D．Food security has been addressed. |
4 . The Arctic will soon be free from ice, experts say. The change is bound (必定的) to take place, but the global warming and climate change are changing the earth’ s landscape (地形) rapidly, causing panic worldwide.
Experts say that the Arctic sea ice is melting (融化) quite faster than expected and it can affect not just the region, but Earth in general. A scientist even says that next year, or maybe the year after that, the Arctic will be free of ice.
Peter Wadhams, a scientist, said that the melting trend led to his statement. “Most people expect this year will see a record low in the Arctic’s summer sea-ice cover. Next year or the year after that, I think it will be free of ice in summer and by that I mean the central Arctic will be ice-free,” Peter Wadhams, director of the Scott Polar Institute in Cambridge, said in an interview with the Guardian. “You will be able to cross over the North Pole by ship,” Peter Wadhams added. He strongly believes that although some pieces of ice will remain, the Arctic basin may be free of sea ice in the next two years starting in the summer of 2017.
Wadhams’ study says that melting sea ice will have a great influence on the planet since the sea ice is more able to reflect (反射) sunlight compared to water that can only reflect 10% of the sunlight. Once the sea ice melts, the water can only reflect a small amount of sunlight. This means that the Earth will receive and absorb more sunlight, making the planet even hotter.
The year 2016 has already broken records of the hottest temperature ever recorded and the trend doesn’t seem to show any decrease in global warming. “It doesn’t look like the ice is healing and growing back,” Tom Wagner, NASA’ s manager for cryosphere (冰冻圈) research said in a statement.
Like Wadhams, scientists and researchers all over the world are lecturing around to educate people to help lighten global warming that has already changed the planet’s landscape.
1. What does the author think of global warming and climate change?| A．Anxious. | B．Unbelievable. | C．Misunderstood. | D．Happy. |
| A．The melting of the Arctic sea ice only has a great effect on this region. |
| B．It’s impossible that the Arctic will be free from ice in one or two years. |
| C．What experts say has caused worldwide fear and great anxiety. |
| D．The speed of the Arctic sea ice being melted is beyond expectation. |
| A．the water will reflect more sunlight | B．more heat will be taken in by the earth |
| C．more water will cover the earth | D．there will be more hours of daylight |
5 . It was a sunny day when my dad and I were arriving at his company. We parked the car and got out of it. I looked around and saw a grey thing on the ground. I thought it was, a garbage bag, but it started to move. As we approached we realized that it was a small wounded (受伤的) dog.
We were so moved by the scene that we decided to help the poor dog. We bought some dog food in the store across the street and got some pure water for the dog, in order to help him regain strength.
He was so hungry that while we were giving him the food and water he almost buried his head in them. After he had eaten we encouraged him to move; however, he could not. My dad tried to take him in his arms, but he started barking due to a wounded bleeding paw (爪子). In the end, we decided to carry him on a small stretcher (担架) to our car.
Rapidly, we took him to the vet (兽医) for him to heal his wound. The vet told us that he had a broken leg and that he had been starving for days. He got out of the vet’s office after 5 days of recovery, and we decided to look for a family for him. He was finally adopted by one of my dad’s workers and is living happily.
In conclusion, I learned from this that everybody can do an act of kindness. Everyone deserves a second chance to be happy.
1. What’s the author’s attitude toward the wounded dog?| A．Doubtful. | B．Disappointed. | C．Uninterested. | D．Helpful. |
| A．There was blood on his paw. | B．He was afraid of strangers. |
| C．His wounded paw hurt. | D．He was beaten by someone. |
| A．A Meaningful Lesson | B．An Act of Kindness |
| C．An Unforgettable Experience | D．A Small Wounded Dog |
6 . Today, we have the ability to predict dangerous tornadoes (龙卷风), hurricanes (飓风) winter storms, and floods with more accuracy than ever. We know the areas that are likely to be struck by earthquakes, and the areas that are easily harmed by wildfires, and we can tell hours in advance whether a tsunami (海啸) will hit our shores.
However, in spite of all the capabilities for advance warnings, Americans are still quite poor at preparing for these disasters. In a 2006 poll (民意调查) carried out by TIME Magazine, only 16% percent believed they were “well prepared” for the next one.
A few weeks ago I was listening to NPR (National Public Radio) as I was cooking dinner, and I heard a moving story about a young boy, Noah Stewart, who lived through a tornado that hit his Alabama home.
Noah was sucked up into the tornado and then dropped. He landed on his head first, a fall of such force that, under normal conditions, would have killed him. However, he survived because his mother made a quick decision to put a baseball helmet on his head right before the tornado hit. Noah was unhurt in the storm. But the helmet cracked (破裂) down the middle.
The CDC states that they can’t say whether helmets save lives during a tornado impact (撞击) . However, it still seems wise for anyone in a tornado-prone (可能的) area to keep several helmets at the ready. Any added protection is going to increase your chance of survival, and as Noah’s story clearly shows, helmets can save lives.
You don’t have to buy new helmets—picking up used bicycle, football, or baseball helmets at economical stores and garage sales (旧货市场) can save money and keep your family protected.
However, it’s necessary that you keep these helmets in an easily reachable place; they should not be used for any other purpose, as they may be misplaced. Remember, when a tornado hits, you might only have minute—or even seconds—to find shelter. You don’t want to be running around the house, searching for those helmets.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?| A．Americans are fear of disasters. |
| B．There are many disasters in America. |
| C．Disasters are better predicted in America. |
| D．Most Americans are not well prepared for disasters. |
| A．Because he stayed with his mother. |
| B．Because he was brave in the tornado. |
| C．Because he was well protected by a helmet. |
| D．Because he was quick-minded in emergency. |
| A．Put them at hand. | B．Choose new ones. |
| C．Use professional ones. | D．Save money to buy expensive ones. |
| A．To ask us to prepare for the disasters. | B．To warn us of the tornado impact. |
| C．To advise us to keep helmets handy. | D．To describe the moving story of a boy. |
7 . The amount of plastic in our oceans-and thus in our seafood-is rising. A study says Europeans alone throw about 11,000 small pieces of plastic every year. And unless we make some very big changes, that number could reach 780,000 pieces per person within a few decades.
Microplastics are popular additives(添加剂)to a wide range of personal care products, from face wash to toothpaste. We wash them off and send them down the drain(下水道), where they head out into the water supply. And there they’ll stay, absorbing chemicals, until something or somebody comes along and eats them.
Studies have found that fish that consume microplastics are smaller than others. They refuse real food in favor of more plastic. Their eggs are less likely to hatch, and they are less likely to escape from other hunters.
Researchers at the University of Ghent in Belgium have been studying the effects of microplastics on shellfish(海贝). The average shellfish sucks(吮吸)in and spits(吐)out about 20 liters of water per day. Most of the plastic particles in that water will be sent back out into the ocean. Most, but not all; lead researcher Colin Janssen says the shellfish they examined had an average of one tiny plastic piece.
Janssen and his colleagues say the same process occurs in humans who consume shellfish. About 99 percent of the microplastics will pass through your system. That still leaves 1 percent to stay in the body, and we don’t yet know what that means for our health.
“We do need to know the fate of the plastics,” Janssen said. “Where do they go? Are they forgotten about by the body, or are they causing inflammation (炎症) or doing other things? Are chemicals coming out of these plastics and then causing damage? We don’t know.”
1. What does the underlined word “They” refer to in paragraph 3?| A．The researchers in the study. |
| B．The fish which eat the small fish in the ocean. |
| C．The common people who eat fish and seashell. |
| D．The small fish which eat plastic pieces. |
| A．It will be easier to catch them. |
| B．Their population will get smaller and smaller. |
| C．They will help reduce the amount of plastic pieces in the ocean. |
| D．People will find it an effective way to deal with water pollution. |
| A．It means developing a good taste in delicious food. |
| B．It means that eating sea creatures is dangerous. |
| C．It means storing plastic in the human bodies. |
| D．It means that plastic shellfish can take the place of real one. |
| A．No one will be sure of its effects. | B．They will lead to some strange diseases. |
| C．They will be forgotten. | D．They will give off some poisonous chemicals. |
8 . The Taklimakan (塔克拉玛干) Desert in western China has one of the world' s most difficult environments. With no water, fierce winds and terrible sandstorms, the temperatures get as hot as 40℃ in summer and as cold as -20℃ in winter. Yet, even though it was such a difficult environment, many people in history have traveled through the Taklimakan Desert. Why would anyone want to do this? Cutting through this desert was the famous Silk Road, the main trading route between China and Europe.
In China, the Silk Road ran through the ancient city of Kashgar (喀什) in Xinjiang, then north-east over the Taklimakan Desert to Dunhuang. From Dunhuang, the Silk Road went south-east through ancient Gansu, and then east to Xi' an.
The best-known product traded along the Silk Road was of course silk. Chinese silk was transported to Europeans, who liked it because it was soft. Other goods transported along the Silk Road included gold, ivory, glass, fur and ceramics (陶瓷器). The Silk Road could be quite dangerous: apart from the difficulty traveling through the desert, robbing was a constant problem. Many merchants traveled with guards to protect themselves and the goods they carried.
To westerners, the most famous traveler along the Silk Road was the Italian merchant, Marco Polo (AD 1254- 1324). However, Marco Polo was by no means the first person to travel along the Silk Road and tell others about it. In fact, in 139BC and 119BC, the Chinese explorer Zhang Qian was sent by Emperor Wu to visit the west. Zhang Qian ’s journey helped bring the Chinese people a greater knowledge of the western lands.
1. What is the biggest temperature gap in the Taklimakan Desert?| A．20℃ | B．40℃ | C．60℃ | D．80℃ |
| A．gold and silver | B．glass and fur |
| C．animals and fur | D．ivory and paper |
| A．Zhang Qian was sent to visit the west twice. |
| B．The main product traded along the Silk Road was silk. |
| C．Marco Polo was not the first person to travel along the Silk Road. |
| D．The Taklimakan Desert has the world’ s most difficult environment. |
9 . My aim in life is to save the environment for future generations. I want to become an environmental consultant
I want to teach people to buy recycled products. This is much
There is no
| A．before | B．after | C．though | D．unless |
| A．needn’t | B．mustn’t | C．daren’t | D．cannot |
| A．raise | B．produce | C．reduce | D．increase |
| A．quantity | B．deal | C．lot | D．quality |
| A．worse | B．less | C．fewer | D．better |
| A．work | B．operate | C．begin | D．do |
| A．certainty | B．hope | C．doubt | D．good |
| A．grow | B．to grow | C．grown | D．growing |
| A．unable | B．right | C．willing | D．certain |
| A．challenges | B．difficulties | C．problems | D．products |
1. What is the speaker mainly talking about?
| A．All kinds of animals. |
| B．Sick animals’ treatment. |
| C．His job as an animal doctor. |
| A．Rabbits. | B．Dogs and cats. | C．Cows and sheep. |
| A．With a piece of metal. |
| B．With a piece of plastic. |
| C．With a piece of water pipe. |
