1 . I arrived home from work, my mind racing. I was scheduled to perform an experiment using a pricey piece of equipment, but I had spent the whole day worrying about the experiment which was on the top of my agenda (日程), and I amazingly longed to shut off my anxious thoughts. So after dinner, I made a cup of hot chocolate, stretched myself on my sofa, and opened a page. Almost instantly, my mind left behind the details of experimental design and stepped into a land of monsters, magic dust, and man-like bears comprising a wonderful world distinct (不同的) from my daily life. It was exactly what I needed.
Growing up, I was virtually never a big fan of novels. My classmates would be crazy about the latest Harry Potter book, while my copy sat collecting dust on a shelf. Instead, I would choose to read through the reference books related to my academic fields for better grades. After I started graduate school, extracurricular reading didn’t appeal to me at all but I spent most of my time on campus digesting research papers and textbooks and my mind couldn’t handle processing fact-filled nonfiction books at home, too. So I knew that I needed to find a way to enjoy reading again.
To help me stick with it, I made a New Year’s resolution: I would read two fiction books per month for the entire year. The result was an almost instant appreciation of fiction, along with many unexpected results including ones that have benefited my schoolwork.
What surprised me the most was how much I learned. Some of the best books I read were historical fictional stories happening in a realistic historical setting. I learned about life in different countries, as well as struggles people there faced during difficult periods in their histories. The books have helped me build sympathy and understanding, with an unexpected benefit: I’ve started to think more deeply about the diversity of issues in the scientific community and could serve it, heart and soul.
1. What did the author do to wipe out the anxiety?A.He drowned it in chocolate. | B.He conducted an experiment. |
C.He slept on the sofa leisurely. | D.He escaped into a fantasy world. |
A.Reading novels was a waste of time. |
B.Reading a good book was time well spent. |
C.He was too busy to take good care of his books. |
D.The Harry Potter book wasn’t as good as expected. |
A.More sympathy went out to him. |
B.His moral values were strengthened. |
C.He learned much about religious diversity. |
D.He gained new insight into his academic fields. |
A.Reading: A Lifelong Hobby | B.The Power of Research Papers |
C.Novels: Love at Second Sight | D.The Benefits of History Reading |
2 . ABOUT SMART
SMART runs both study tours for groups in England throughout the year and a holiday English course for foreign students during the summer in the centre of London. Our courses combine English language learning with cultural studies in different centres around England. Our students have plenty of holiday fun, make new friends and learn a lot of English!
The holiday course
We provide lessons and afternoon activities to help you speak, write, listen and read in English, as well as understand the English people and their culture. We will help you learn through topics which are interesting to you.
The school
The Elite School is in central London, just 5 minutes from Paddington Station and 10minutes from Hyde Park. It has 15 classrooms including an IT room, a science lab, a music room, and an art room as well as a large cafeteria.
Travelling time from Heathrow Airport: 45 minutes
Trips
There are three trips every week. You can have fun either in London or outside London. In London we visit places such as the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace and the Tate Modern. Outside London we visit places such us Oxford, Cambridge and Brighton.
Terms
Age:11- 17
Minimum stay: 2 weeks
Maximum number of students in class: 15
Cost 550 per week, including:
-registration fee (C60)
-tuition package: 15 hours of English; 1 half day of creative arts; I full-day trip on Saturday; all course materials; 1 half day of sport; 2“Discover London” tours; lunch; welcome pack
-host family accommodation
1. Which of the following is provided by the holiday course?A.Free access to 15 classrooms. | B.A culture-based language study. |
C.Pick-up service from the airport. | D.Learning experiences in famous colleges. |
A.f550. | B.f610. | C.f1100. | D.f1160. |
A.A tour guide. . | B.An advertisement. . | C.A diary. | D.A brochure |
1. 第一印象至关重要;
2. 如何创建良好的第一印象。
注意:1.写作词数应为80左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
How to Make a Good First Impression
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The Gift of Life
In August 1998, a big fire broke out in an apartment building in Chicago. Jacob, together with other firefighters, rushed to the scene to fight the fire. “It was already looking pretty hopeless when we got there,” said Jacob. Suddenly, a young woman came running up to them yelling at the top of her lungs, “My Kris is still on the fifth floor.”
Immediately, Jacob made his way up to the fifth floor. The fire had grown so fierce by then. “As a fireman I knew the chances of my surviving if I went there were slim,” said Jacob. “But I just kept seeing that mother’s face in my head.” So Jacob rushed up and finally found the boy lying on the floor in just about the only spot that wasn’t on fire. “I didn’t even have time to figure out if he was alive or dead,” said Jacob. “I just grabbed him and rushed out.”
Two weeks after the rescue, Jacob had two visitors—the young woman and her son Kris. “Thank you,” she said. “We are forever in your debt.” They have kept in touch with each other since then.
Jacob was a hero, but little did he know how his unselfish decision on that day would affect his own life some 20 years later.
At age 43, Jacob was suffering from kidney (肾) failure, and his doctor said there would be little chance of survival without a new kidney. “I really didn’t know where to turn. That’s when Kris came to my door,” said Jacob.
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。
Kris was the same blood type and he knew what he should do.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Finally, Jacob was persuaded to have the operation and it turned out to be a perfect success.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.表达你对该栏目的喜爱;
2.对该栏目提一条建议。
注意:
1.写作词数应为80左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear editor,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Li Hua
Imagine a place where, as a nature lover, you have a chance to see 17 species of animals, 94 different kinds of birds and 230 types of plants in just four days.
It might seem like an impossible task, especially for someone who is not a
The event,
For the festival, more than 50 wildlife enthusiasts from across China, Australia, France, the United Kingdom and the United States formed 17 teams and did
Members of the local community
7 . While at the National Broadcasters Convention (大会) recently, one of the speakers, Sam Haskell, told a story that was such a beautiful example of
When Sam was nine, a
Young Sam was
Time went by and the ad was no longer on television, but Sam
Sam’s mom had a huge smile on her face. His dad — who’d made fun of him for his dream — stood there in
Young Sam learned a valuable lesson that day about
And it all
A.effort | B.kindness | C.faith | D.creativity |
A.television | B.newspaper | C.radio | D.magazine |
A.connected | B.helped | C.called | D.visited |
A.donate | B.pay | C.find | D.receive |
A.doubtful | B.convinced | C.excited | D.proud |
A.laughed at | B.agreed with | C.turned to | D.asked about |
A.already | B.hardly | C.still | D.even |
A.passing | B.coming | C.leaving | D.returning |
A.dreamed | B.calculated | C.planned | D.suggested |
A.shock | B.silence | C.sorrow | D.pain |
A.stored | B.identified | C.selected | D.arranged |
A.working for | B.preparing for | C.relying on | D.believing in |
A.changeable | B.possible | C.useful | D.special |
A.decision | B.behavior | C.concern | D.future |
A.moved | B.developed | C.started | D.completed |
8 . One of the hardest parts of any weight loss program is staying motivated throughout it. In fact, being able to keep your motivation while trying to lose weight is the essential success factor.
One of the first ways to keep your level of motivation is to create a strong plan, which will help you to see where you are headed at each stage of your program.
Making a list of positive changes from lost weight will also help. Will you feel much better because you’ve become healthier? Will you have a better self-image because you can finally fit into that dress you’ve been admiring?
The final way to stay with your weight loss program is to vary your routines. Your mind is quite likely to get bored if your weight loss program never changes.
A.Your plan should be specific. |
B.Whatever will change about your life, list it. |
C.Will you make an effort to have a balanced diet? |
D.So how can you stay motivated during your weight loss program? |
E.Have you thought of the problems that might come up if you are too fat? |
F.Another good way is to think positively about your weight loss program. |
G.So start a different exercise program you might be interested in every few months. |
9 . Part of the reason American shoppers are so attracted to wholesale (批发) shopping is their belief that it not only prevents waste but can save time and money, providing more value for the dollar. However, recent research suggests that the opposite may be true.
Victoria Ligon, an expert on consumer sciences, studied food purchasing habits of consumers and found that people tended to buy too much food and waste more of it than they realized. “The problem is that people are not shopping frequently enough,” Ligon said. “People are very price sensitive at the grocery store, but tend to overlook the cost of unused and wasted food at home.”
A common practice is to visit different stores for different items on a grocery list. “But people tend to overbuy at each of the places,” Ligon said. “People are not planning for the next day, but planning for the next week or two.”
“In theory, planning a week or more in advance sounds ideal. But given the reality of many people’s lives, this is challenging to do well,” Ligon said. “All of our food promotions are designed to get people to buy more. We believe it’s cheaper if we buy more now, but we rarely take into account how much we throw out in the end.”
Ligon noted shifts in the grocery industry that appear promising to help customers reduce food waste. Examples include cost-effective delivery services such as Amazon Fresh and Google Express, which allow consumers to purchase food items when they want to consume them, also reducing their need to frequent so many different stores. However, the study resulted in another troubling finding: The majority of people involved in the study had no idea that they were buying too much and wasting so much.
“When you read advice about reducing waste, it usually centers on what people do after the food is purchased,” Ligon said. “But more importantly, shop on a more frequent basis, so that you are only buying what you are going to consume in the short term.”
1. What do people often ignore when buying food in large quantities?A.How good the food is. | B.How much the food costs. |
C.How often they should shop. | D.How much will be wasted. |
A.It is worth trying. | B.It is not practical. | C.It takes great effort. | D.It is not good for health. |
A.Food prices are lowered. | B.Food waste is prevented. |
C.Food consumption is reduced. | D.Food purchasing can be done at home. |
A.Shop More, Buy Less | B.Shop Wisely, Eat Wisely |
C.Eat Cheaply or Expensively? | D.The More You Shop, the More You Waste |
10 . Daylight Saving Time (DST), when people set their clocks one hour ahead of standard time in the spring, was first introduced in America as a way to conserve electricity. Now, the time-shift still takes place across most of the US. Is it really helpful for farmers? Here’s how farmers feel about it.
Humans might have alarm clocks to adjust, but animals don’t. There’s clear evidence that the shift is a problem for animals such as cows, who don’t tolerate changes to their schedules. One farmer in Utah wrote to tell us that DST is “nothing but a pain. My chickens and cows only know when the sun comes up and goes down. Having to adjust our work schedules twice yearly does nothing for us.”
One goat farmer in North Carolina told us that his goats are upset over the time change. In order to help his goats deal with the time shift, he moves their feeding and milking schedule incrementally. A change of a few minutes per day over the course of a week is a lot less noticeable than a full hour jump all at once.
Many farmers’ responses covered the chaos of changes to schedules, losing sleep and difficulty with getting children to go to sleep when it’s still light outside. One farmer in California put it like this: “The cost of changing twice a year, in terms of resetting every appliance (电器), car and communication system you own, and all the people that will show up early or late for work, appointments and meting... it’s enormous.” His solution? He just works by the sun.
So, it does make sense that many states are looking to get rid of DST. If the measures were introduced to save energy, the time shift could generate savings for governments. However, it’s debatable if DST is even an energy saver anymore. One study found that, after Indiana introduced DST, there was an increase in electricity use, resulting in an added cost of $9 million.
Whether states keep Daylight Saving Time or decide to get rid of it, it’s clear that it will make little difference to farmers. As one reader told us: “We’re up with the sun and down with it, no matter what the clock says.”
1. How does DST affect farm animals?A.It disturbs them. | B.It frightens them. | C.It makes them forget time. | D.It causes them physical pain. |
A.Eventually. | B.Constantly. | C.Immediately. | D.Gradually. |
A.Start their work late. | B.Pay no attention to time. |
C.Pay no attention to clocks. | D.Do their best to save energy. |
A.It lasts too long. | B.It’s a waste of time. | C.It’s not natural. | D.It’s not well organized. |