Columbus was born in a port city of Italy in 1451. As a teenager, he loved sailing and showed great interest in geography,
Columbus insisted on searching for a direct sea route to the East Indies
Between 1493 and 1504, Columbus found more land later. His major
2 . Charles Revson, founder of a successful cosmetic（化妆品） firm, once said, “In our factory we make lipstick. In our advertising, we sell hope.”
We could use a little more hope. I think that is why people buy lottery tickets（彩票）. One poor mother, who was raising her children on a small salary earned from long hours of hard work, was asked, “Why do you waste your money on a lottery ticket when you can hardly make ends meet?”
“Yeah, I buy a ticket every day,” the woman admitted. “But a dollar is not too much to pay for 24 hours of hope.”
There are probably better uses for her money than buying lottery tickets. But she would rather hang onto a little hope that onto her dollar.
We need hope in life. Without it, far too many people come to the conclusion that they are powerless in the face of difficulties. “It can’t be helped.” is their motto. Without hope, they won’t make needed changes. They are powerless.
I’ve found that I can either be a prisoner of circumstances or a practioner hope. I can feel sorry for myself and helpless to do anything about my problems, or I can believe there is a realistic chance for something better.
Norman Cousins, in his book Head First: the Biology of Hope, explains the power of hope. He tells of two doctors who were to deliver a paper at a national meeting of caner specialists. One was truly puzzled. “I don’t understand it, Bob,” he said. “We use the same drugs of the same dosage（量）, and the same schedule of treatment. Yet I get a 22 percent recovery rate and you get a 74 percent recovery rate. How do you explain that?”
The other responded, “We both use Etoposide（依托泊苷）, Platinol（顺铂）, Oncovin（长春新碱）, and Hydroxyurea（羟基脲）. You put those letters together and tell people that you are giving them E-P-O-H. I put them together and explain to them that they are receiving H-O-P-E.”
1. Why did the poor mother buy lottery tickets?| A．She put her hope on them. |
| B．She won much money through them. |
| C．She did it just for fun. |
| D．She wanted to make ends meet. |
| A．The wisdom of doctors. |
| B．The cure for cancer. |
| C．The power of hope. |
| D．Experiences of doctors. |
| A．He used different kinds of medicine. |
| B．He used the medicine in different order. |
| C．He made the patients hopeful. |
| D．He gave the patients larger dosage. |
| A．By studying essays. |
| B．By explaining cause and effect. |
| C．By telling his own experience. |
| D．By giving examples. |
This happened with me once while coming back from office late at night. The time was around 11:30 pm and most of the public transport had stopped.
It had been a long busy day. I was annoyed and too eager to reach home and rest. I was on my bike. The traffic signal just before my house turned red and my anger rose.
Then suddenly someone came up from behind me and tied to hand me a piece of paper.I thought it was another one of those people who hand you pages of some sad story and ask you for money. I could feel anger boiling up inside me shirked (避开) the person away with the motion of my hand without even looking at him.
This guy moved over to the next person in traffic and did a similar thing of showing him the paper. The other guy who was not in as bad mood as mine looked at the paper and started giving directions.It was at this moment realized that the person who came to me was asking for directions. He couldn't speak so he had written it down on a piece of paper.He was not some beggar asking for money, and he was dressed as a salesman carrying one of those bully encyclopedias (百科全书). After getting the directions he smiled at the person,bowed his head showing his appreciation and jogged away to the other end of the road.
I felt a sudden tender pity for him.By the time the signal turned green this salesman was standing at the other end of the road signalling people for a lift.I decided to help him out but my house was on a different route than where he was asking for a lift.I moved on but I was still feeling bad fr treating a hard working person that way.
注意∶
1.续写词数应为150词左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After going about 100 meters, I decided to turn back to offer him a helping hand.
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When another bike stopped and he sat on the bike, he noticed me in the distance.
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4 . It all began when I moved to Dallas in the fourth grade. I
The test results showed that I had developmental dyslexia. At first I felt discouraged by this diagnosis(诊断)
I had finally overcome my learning disability. But even though I had conquered(征服)one of the biggest
The missing link was
One day a little girl in a wheelchair asked me to read a book to her. I read the book very
| A．declared | B．assumed | C．recommended | D．noticed |
| A．sentences | B．lectures | C．dictionaries | D．chances |
| A．choose | B．exchange | C．pronounce | D．write |
| A．motivated | B．scared | C．confused | D．disappointed |
| A．treat | B．risk | C．trick | D．failure |
| A．but | B．so | C．or | D．unless |
| A．deny | B．lose | C．overcome | D．hide |
| A．shake | B．share | C．express | D．increase |
| A．challenges | B．secrets | C．decisions | D．mistakes |
| A．mentioned | B．filled | C．recommended | D．assessed |
| A．relative | B．visitor | C．volunteer | D．patient |
| A．turn away | B．cut in | C．hold on | D．give back |
| A．properly | B．sincerely | C．slowly | D．softy |
| A．dared | B．hesitated | C．attempted | D．happened |
| A．confident | B．independent | C．careful | D．grateful |
5 . In 1868 six-year-old Laura Jernegan,her parents, and her baby brother,Prescott,set sail from New Bedford, Massachusetts. This was no vacation cruise.Laura's father,captain of the whaleship Roman, was hunting the mightiest animal on earth.
Unwilling to be separated from his family for three to four years while he made ocean voyages thousands of miles from home, Captain Jernegan took them with him to share in the adventure—and the danger-of life at sea. In the mid-1800s,as many as one in six American whaling, captains took their families on voyages.
What was it like to live on a whaleship? The diary Laura kept while she was at sea offers a look into her unusual childhood. She was fascinated by her father's job. When the ship's lookout spotted a whale, Laura recorded it in her diary."I hope we shall get him,"she wrote.
She watched as the men rushed to their whaleboats and chased the whales. As soon as a whale was caught, the crew began to process it. First the crew"cut in" the whale by removing its thick blanket of blubber（鲸脂）.
After throwing pieces of blubber into large pots， two men would "get in the pots and squish (挤)out the blubber,"Laura wrote. It must have been a strange sight because the sailors were "way up to their knees" in the greasy fat, she reported.
Now came the hot,smoky,and smelly par.A brick furnace(火炉)was fired up,and the blubber was tried out, or boiled into oil. One huge whale produced enough oil to fill seventy-five barrels, she noted in disbelief. When the Jernegans returned home, the oil would be sold for the best price possible.Whale oil was important during most of the nineteenth century.It was used to light lamps and to make candles.
Two and a half years after she had left New Bedford, deep-water adventure came to an abrupt end. The Jernegans were whaling in the South Pacific when several crew members mutinied(反叛). Fortunately,the mutiny was stopped before anyone got killed.Her parents were terrified.They decided that a whaleship was no place for children. Laura, Prescott,and Mrs. Jernegan headed straight back to the United States on a passenger ship, and Captain Jernegan continued his whaling voyage.
This era, often called the golden age of whaling, was over in the late nineteenth century. Yet one girl's diary has helped to ensure that this chapter in America's seafaring history will not be forgotten.
1. Why did Captain Jernegan take his family out on a whale hunt?| A．To experience the pleasant life at sea. |
| B．To spend a nice vacation with his family. |
| C．To avoid a long separation from his family. |
| D．To follow in the footsteps of other captains. |
| A．Laura offered help to the work. |
| B．It was very hard and dirty work. |
| C．It started from boiling the blubber. |
| D．The workers couldn't stand the heat and bad smell. |
| A．He worried about their safety. |
| B．Laura had no friends on his ship. |
| C．There happened to be a passenger ship. |
| D．They had been away from home too long. |
| A．Her father stopped whaling after the mutiny. |
| B．Hunting whales was challenging but rewarding. |
| C．She thought deep-water adventures were boring. |
| D．The 20th century was thc golden age of whaling. |
6 . Learn more about where your food comes from the next time you dine out… Well, thanks to these food apps, you can find the right food with minimal effort.
Seafood Watch was born out of the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Its primary goal is to help people eat seafood with less impact on the environment. It functions by helping you understand which types of fish are considered sustainable. For example, blue point oysters from Florida are considered a “best choice”, whereas Pacific bigeye tuna is rated “avoid”.
HappyCow is one of the most convenient apps I’ve come across. You can be anywhere and with a click of a button, find a restaurant near you that offers vegetarian food for people who don’t eat fish or meat. I’ve used this while traveling in big cities like Toronto or remote areas like St. Moritz. It also has a great recipe section if you’re in the mood for cooking.
GoodGuide is a tool that rates food and other products on safety, health and moral principles. They take a look at the product’s ingredients(成分), its environmental impact and the company’s attention to labor rights and helping its community. Products are then scored from a low of 0 to a high of 10. The higher the rating, the better the product from a health perspective.
EWG’s Food Scores is a database created to let consumers make healthier, greener food choices. It was launched in 2014 and has ratings for more than 80,000 products. Their database rates foods on a scale of 1.0 to 10.0, with 1.0 being the best product, based on nutrition, ingredients and how it is processed. Since 2014, there have been over 32 million searches on the site.
1. Which app is best for someone who avoids meat?| A．Seafood Watch. | B．HappyCow. |
| C．GoodGuide. | D．EWG’s Food Scores. |
| A．It helps people eat environment-friendly food. |
| B．It focuses on social responsibilities. |
| C．The lower the rating, the worse the product. |
| D．The more nutritious the food, the higher the rating. |
| A．To introduce knowledge about food. |
| B．To encourage healthy eating habits. |
| C．To advertise four green phone apps. |
| D．To recommend some food-related apps. |
7 . The Louvre Museum, Paris
The Louvre Museum is one of the world's largest museums, the most visited art museum in the world and a historic monument. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace which began as a fortress (要塞) built in the late 12th century, In 1682, Louis XIV chose the palace to display the royal collection. The Louvre houses 35, 000 works of art, displayed in over 60, 000 square metres of exhibition.
The British Museum, London
The British Museum is the biggest museum in the world. The story of the British Museum goes back 300 years to one unusual man, Sir Hans Sloane, doctor to King George II. The doctor collected books, drawings, clothes, money, animals, flowers, things from all over the world. The British Museum opened in 1759 . Since then many famous men have studied there.
The Uffizi Gallery, Florence
The Uffizi Gallery is one of the most famous museums in the world given the rich amount of unique artworks and masterpieces within its walls, the majority from the Renaissance period. Its large collection has works from all centuries but a large part dates back to the periods between the 12th and 17th centuries. As one of the oldest and most famous art museums of the Western world, the building of the Uffizi Gallery began in 1560.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Founded in 1870, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or “the Met”, is the largest art museum in the USA. Its impressive permanent collection is home to over two million works. It also has an outstanding collection of American and modern art and proudly houses extensive holdings of African, Asian, Oceanic, Indian and Islamic art. Visitors can also find large collections of musical instruments and costumes as well as antique weapons from around the globe.
1. Which of the following has the shortest history?| A．The Louvre Museum | B．The Uffizi Gallery |
| C．The British Museum | D．The Metropolitan Museum of Art. |
| A．broad | B．remarkable |
| C．unusual | D．impressive |
| A．The Louvre Palace was first built to be a museum |
| B．If you are interested in weapons, you can go to the Uffizi Gallery |
| C．Not all the masterpieces in the Uffizi Gallery are from the Renaissance period. |
| D．King George II collected things from all over the world for the British Museum. |
Grandfather was a wise and honorable man. His house was not far from ours, and I would visit him often going home after school.
No matter how rotten I had been, 1 could tell Grandpa anything. My secrets were safe. He always understood. He loved me.
I remember a time when a bunch of us were playing baseball in the field behind Mrs. Ferguson's house. I hit one pitch (投) just right and . . . slam! It was a home run that soared (急升) high and away, and ended up breaking Old Lady Ferguson's kitchen window! We all ran!
Walking home, my best friend, Tom, asked, “How will she ever know who did it? She's blinder than a bat!” I decided to stop by Grandpa's. He must have known something was up by the expression on my face. I felt ashamed. I wanted to hide. I wanted to bang my head against a tree a thousand times and make the world just go away- as if punishing myself could undo things. I told him about it.
He knew we had been warned many times about the dangers of playing where we shouldn't. But he just listened.
“I was wrong, I told him, with my head down. “I hate myself for what I did. I really blew it. Is there a way out? Will she call the police?”
“Well,” he said, “she has a problem, just like you. I'll bet if she knew you cared, she would be sad to know that you're afraid of her. I'll bet she wishes you would give her a chance... a chance to be understanding, It's your decision, ” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “Just so I don't say the wrong thing, is the plan to pretend nothing happened? Just keep quiet and carry your little secret around . . . hide what you're not proud of?”
“I don't know, ” I sighed. “Things might get worse. . . . ”
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Grandpa asked, “If you were Mrs. Ferguson, what would you do?”
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“Doing what's right is not always easy, ” Grandpa said, handing me the phone.
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| reflect on lay eyes on speak volumes about go about give rise to breathe life into in one's own right through trial and error on closer inspection be down to |
2. Despite the threat of war, people
3. His success
4. My grandmother learned to use the computer
5. We welcome people who can
6. He proved to be an outstanding leader
7. Even since I first
8. At first sight, I thought the painting was authentic (真品的), but
9. Writing each day gives you time to think carefully and
10. The public's continued enthusiasm about the Qingming Scroll, even after all these centuries,
10 . For years, planet-hunters have been searching for a planet other than Earth that can support life. They may have found one.
The planet is the sixth found orbiting a star called Gliese 581. Steven Vogt, one of the scientists involved, expects the new planet to have water. On Earth, when we find water, we find life.
A planet that can support life has to be just the right size for its system and just the right distance from its star. Some planets orbit so close to their stars that they’re much too hot for liquid water—or for life as we know it.
But a right-sized planet that's neither too close nor too far might be just right for water. Gliese 581 is probably just right. It is about three times as huge as Earth.
The new planet is 20 light years away, which is as far as 250 million trips to the Moon and back.
Gliese 581 is an exciting discovery—and astronomers are likely to find more soon, thanks to new, powerful telescopes specifically designed to look for planets.
| A．We can’t travel at the speed of light. |
| B．It’s pretty hard to imagine that water wouldn't be there. |
| C．Human beings won’t be visiting this planet any time soon. |
| D．So scientists looking for life on other planets look for water first. |
| E．It orbits its star so closely that it goes all the way around in only 37 days. |
| F．Astronomers will probably find more potential life-supporting planets soon. |
| G．Other planets keep their distance from the stars—where they’re too cold to have water or life. |
