1 . While attractions like the Shard and the London Eye offer excellent perspectives, they’re always busy and ticket prices are steep. But with a little insider knowledge, you can save your pounds and bag your skyline photos without the crowds through accessing the following viewpoints.
Parliament HillLondon is mostly flat, but if you know where to look there are a few hills that provide natural (and free) high points offering city views with a side order of fresh air.
One of the most central is Parliament Hill on Hampstead Heath — at 98m, one of London’s highest natural viewpoints. From here, on a clear day, you can sit on the park bench that featured in movies like Run Fatboy Run and Notes on a Scandal.
Entry fee: free
The Garden Museum TowerIf you exit left out of Westminster station, battle your way over the bridge and then turn right, past the view of Big Ben and walk along the south side of the Thames, you’ll come to a medieval (中 世纪的) church.
While you might be interested in British garden design, it’s the 14th-Century tower that’s the main attraction for photographers. Climb the 131 steps of the narrow spiral staircase and you’ll emerge onto one of the finest riverside viewpoints in the city — with views across to the Palace of Westminster on the right.
Entry fee: Adult f16, or Tower only 4
The IFS Cloud Cable CarIf you want to soar over London in a glass pod, the obvious place to go is the London Eye. But a cheaper and crowd-free alternative is to ride the IFS Cloud Cable Car.
The views are impressive at any time, but the Cable Car stays open late, so you can even enjoy magnificent sunsets from the west — facing side or admire the twinkling city lights after dark.
Entry fee: E6 one-way
Seabird, SouthwarkLondon has no shortage of rooftop venues (场所) offering knockout cityscape views, so it can be hard to pick just one or two. But for location, angles and a great experience, it doesn’t get much better than Seabird, on the 14th floor of the Hoxton hotel in Southwark with nothing to block views on three sides.
Entry fee: Buy a drink: draught beer costs ₤6.50 or small glass of wine is ₤9; a portion of olives costs ₤5.
1. Where can you go if you want to photograph the 14th-Century tower?A.The London Eye. |
B.The south side of the Thames. |
C.The rooftop venues. |
D.A place near St Paul’s Cathedral. |
A.Parliament Hill. |
B.The Garden Museum Tower. |
C.The IFS Cloud Cable Car. |
D.Seabird, Southwark. |
A.They are free. |
B.They are well-known. |
C.They are not crowded. |
D.They are not cheap. |
2 . Why It’s Hard to Lose Weight
What makes people gain weight? This seems like a simple enough question to answer. If we eat a lot and don’t do enough exercise, we will become fat.
As we know, what we eat greatly affects our weight. It is widely accepted that people have 100% control over what they eat and how much they eat. This, however, is partly true.
Our bodies themselves can decide whether we are more likely to gain weight or lose weight. Scientists have found that the more delicious the food, the more excited our brains get.
Also, our bodies use a variety of hormones (激素) to tell our brains whether they are hungry or full. Ghrelin(胃饥饿素), for example, tells the brain that the body wants food. Leptin(瘦蛋白), meanwhile, tells the brain that it’s time to stop eating. Ghrelin and leptin help us to maintain a healthy weight.
A.But sometimes, they may work improperly. |
B.People form habits around food at a young age. |
C.If we often have delicious food, over time, our brain will change. |
D.Now you know why fat people often have a tough time losing weight. |
E.There is also evidence to show industrial chemicals may increase body fat. |
F.However, the science behind weight problems is more complicated than we think. |
G.People with low levels of body satisfaction are more likely to gain weight over time. |
3 . Dispose of Your Credit Card Without Burying It
Disposing of unwanted items in our lives often means simply throwing them into the garbage or recycling bin — or, if they’re still useful, giving them away. It’s different with old credit cards, which should be destroyed so nobody can use them fraudulently (欺诈地).
First, contact the issuer
If closing the account is your goal, you’ll have to call the number on the back of your card and ask to do so. If your card is a rewards card, remember to first redeem points or cash back. Change any automatic payments to a different card, and be sure to pay the final card bill.
Cut up plastic cards
Sharp scissors and smart trimming will do the job here. “We recommend that consumers cut through the EMV chip, then further cut the card a few times along the short side, and dispose of the sections in more than one trash bag,” says Sarah Grano, a spokeswoman for the American Bankers Association.
Send back metal cards
Check back on your account
Don’t obsess about identity theft of an old credit card. You generally won’t be responsible for fraudulent charges anyway.
Closing an account can hurt you
Closing a credit card account can lower your credit rating. That’s because credit scores consider your “credit utilization ratio’”, or how much of your available credit you’re using. And when you close an account, you have less available credit.
A.It could be worth closing the account anyway. |
B.Scores also consider the length of time you’ve had the card open. |
C.Or feed cards into a machine designed to handle them. |
D.Take care with debit cards and other plastic where fraud means you might be missing money. |
E.But how to destroy a payment card properly is not obvious, especially with new metal credit cards. |
F.Destroying a metal card by yourself is harder and potentially dangerous. |
G.Skip this step if you’re simply replacing an expired card or one that has been compromised. |
On August 24, Japan started releasing wastewater from its Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (福岛第一核电站) into the Pacific Ocean. This has caused anger and fear across the world.
In March 2011, Japan experienced the strongest earthquake in its
The plant was operated by TEPCO (东京电力公司). According to the company, the wastewater is diluted (稀释) before
“They’ll pollute the ocean, the animals within it, and
On the same day, China announced
China was the biggest buyer of Japanese seafood. More than 255,000 users took a poll (民意调查) on Weibo. Up to 97% of them said that they would no longer eat seafood from Japan. “We’re on the same planet,” said one of them. “Nobody can be free from harm. It’s just a matter
5 . Life skills or social skills are seldom prioritized (优先考虑) in most schools. However, a
Thiessen discussed her
Thiessen told her third-grade students in 2018, “If we could be that spark of kindness, we could
After this experience, Thiessen made it an annual activity for third-graders at the school. “This project isn’t about who can
The school has carried out the Kindness Project for the last five years. Due to the project’s success, the school
Besides beginning a chain of kindness, the teacher wants to show students what they’re
A.college | B.junior | C.primary | D.senior |
A.creatively | B.differently | C.sharply | D.positively |
A.applying | B.checking | C.cultivating | D.sharing |
A.theories | B.schedules | C.issues | D.concerns |
A.related | B.exposed | C.addicted | D.devoted |
A.remind | B.force | C.inspire | D.invite |
A.practices | B.wonders | C.assignments | D.projects |
A.tools | B.services | C.items | D.gifts |
A.strangers | B.friends | C.teachers | D.parents |
A.estimate | B.perform | C.adopt | D.approve |
A.ambitions | B.challenges | C.regrets | D.requirements |
A.involved | B.revealed | C.implied | D.stimulated |
A.reflected on | B.based on | C.built on | D.focused on |
A.pick up | B.give out | C.sort out | D.cope with |
A.proud | B.worthy | C.capable | D.aware |
6 . Since we are vulnerable (脆弱的) when we sleep, sleep must play a critical role, or evolution wouldn’t have selected for it. Early humans had to hunt, gather food and protect themselves. Those activities consumed much time, so unless sleep served very important purposes, those who slept less would have an advantage. Yet sleeping for long hours of the night was kept for years, but scientists had only general ideas about what happened during sleep. Recently, Dr. Chiara Chiarelli, a neuroscientist, shared what sleep neuroscience research has discovered.
Neural (神经的) networks in the brain are connected through synapses (神经突触) which allow signals to flow throughout the brain and onto cells. During waking hours, new learning can strengthen the connections. You can think of knowledge acquired over a long time as a group of well-connected neural paths. When you learn something new, new paths are connected to the old. During the waking hours, your brain processes massive amounts of new insignificant information, say remembering where you parked your car. But that memory has to be preserved at least until you reach the car. It establishes a new connection to your memory of what your car looks like, a well-established “old” memory. The brain creates so many connections daily that particular circuits can be heavily burdened.
Dr. Cirelli explained that during sleep, a great many synaptic connections are weakened so that connections are more available for new learning the next day. Continuing with the parked car example, the exact location of the parked car is not needed again, so the connections are weakened. In fact, if it were not, you might memorize hundreds of places where you have parked, leading to considerable confusion!
You don’t have to be a scientist to understand that not sleeping well affects next day functioning — this is common cultural wisdom. Dr. Cirelli’s research is an example of science showing the “why” and “how” mechanisms that underlie that wisdom.
1. What does the example of early humans show?A.Sleep wasn’t as important as it is today. |
B.Our ancestors had a hard time surviving. |
C.Sleep is significant in the history of humans. |
D.Whoever sleeps less enjoys more advantages. |
A.Our memory can be kept over a long period of time. |
B.Our brain can be overloaded with synaptic connections. |
C.Our brain’s neural network is connected through synapses. |
D.Our new learning is based on well-established old memories |
A.Sleep relieves synaptic burden. | B.Sleep carries cultural wisdom. |
C.Sleep broadens neural paths. | D.Sleep stimulates brain development. |
A.Doubtful. | B.Unclear. |
C.Dismissive (鄙视的). | D.Approving. |
注意:1. 词数80左右;2. 可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯:3. 开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。
Dear Professor Williams,
I am honored to give a presentation about Chinese culture to international students at your invitation.
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Sincerely yours,
Li Hua
8 . Getting rid of old tyres has long been a problem. Most are thrown into landfills or piled up in storage. Energy recovery is another common method. This involves burning tyres to generate electricity or heat for industries, but that produces planet warming pollution; or we use them to repair roads, but chemicals from them might pollute the ground.
Some firms, therefore, have begun exploring an alternative. One such firm is Wastefront, which owns a big tyre-recycling plant in north-east England. In a couple of years, it will be able to turn 8 million old tyres into new products, including a black liquid called TDO (轮胎衍生油).
The process works by deconstructing a tyre into steel, rubber, and carbon black (炭黑). After tearing down the steel, the remaining material is exposed to high temperatures in the absence of air to make the rubber change into a mix of hydrocarbon gases, and then they’re removed. What is left behind is pure carbon black. Once the removed gases cool down, a part of them liquefies into TDO. The remaining gases are to be burned to fuel the process. This creates a closed-cycle system that prevents emissions (排放).
The carbon black can be reused to make new tyres. That is of interest to tyre-makers because it helps efforts to become carbon neutral-achieving a balance between the amounts of carbon dioxide produced and the carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. Producing new carbon black requires burning heavy oil or coal, which lets off plenty of greenhouse gases
The recovered TDO is well-suited for making diesel (柴油). While not completely carbon-neutral, it does produce an 80-90% reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, compared with the conventional fuel. The future market for such cleaner fuels will remain large, even though electric vehicles are on the rise. Fossil-fuelled vehicles will exist for decades, particularly the big burners of diesel-trucks, which are harder to electrify. The fuel is also needed by trains and ships. So, anything that helps clean up overall emissions is useful—especially if it also eases a mountainous waste problem.
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?A.To analyze causes. | B.To present problems |
C.To reach solutions. | D.To make comparisons |
A.Air boosts the burning of the old tyres. |
B.The remaining gases are emitted into the air. |
C.Pure carbon black is an unprocessed substance. |
D.TDO comes from the removed hydrocarbon gases. |
A.Diesel made from TDO. | B.Clean electric energy. |
C.Carbon-neutral process | D.Recovered TDO from old tyres. |
A.The Problems of Burning Old Tyres. |
B.The Black Liquid Called TDO. |
C.The System Preventing Emissions |
D.The Alternative to Tyre-recycling. |
Everyone has a hero — someone he admires, who has had an impact on his life. My brother, John, is my hero. He is the most sympathetic, sweet and funny person I have ever met. John is also mentally handicapped (智障的) and has a developmental disability known as autism (自闭症).
I used to be ashamed of John when I was little. When he first started talking, he had a hard time with pronunciation and understanding the meaning of words. He called me May-Me for most of my childhood because he could not pronounce Amy. As John grew older, his language ability gradually increased. I went from May-Me to Amy, and hammer burgers became hamburgers.
When I was younger, I was embarrassed by John. He used to run around in stores talking to himself, flicking his ears and putting his hands in his mouth. He had a hard time swallowing and would have drool (流口水) running down his face. John was very loud, and it seemed to me that he would always find the quietest moments to talk.
All I ever wanted was a normal brother. I would look at other brothers and sisters, see their relationships and turn green with envy. Why did my brother have to be so different? I was very self-conscious of what people thought. I felt as if the entire world was laughing at me because of the way John was acting. I was utterly offended at times that I could not have a normal brother.
The siblings of an autistic child can have many reactions to the amount of attention the autistic child receives. Some feel as if they are not receiving enough attention and may become superachievers to get their share. I hate to admit it, but I definitely fall into this category. I feel the need to excel (突出) in everything I do. I cannot help but think that this comes from having a disabled brother.
John has changed significantly over the past eighteen years.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As I grow older, I’m no longer ashamed of my brother; instead, I am ashamed that I used to be.
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10 . Sometimes, the kids in Stephanie Williams’s kindergarten class need a little extra motivation. While some students prefer material rewards for good behavior, all Kameron Eisenberg wanted was to be the first one on the bus. That way, he’d be able to spend a little extra time with the school bus driver Charles Frierson. In the few minutes they shared together each afternoon, Mr. Charles would chat with Kameron, encourage him, and generally brighten his day.
“I always ask the kids, ‘What do you want to work for today?’ And Kameron said, ‘I want to work to see the bus,’” Stephanie said. “Just being the first one on the bus and talking to Mr. Charles does not seem like a lot, but to him it’s the world.”
At the beginning of the school year, Kameron was having some difficulties in class. His behavior got him sent to the administrator’s office almost every day. However, getting to hang out with Mr. Charles turned out to be a strong motivator for the kindergartner to follow directions. After checking in with his teacher, the bus driver would sometimes even talk to him about any problems he was having in school.
Stephanie saw a huge change in Kameron’s attitude once the boy started talking to Mr. Charles every day. So did Kameron’s mom. Eventually, she decided to write a letter to the driver. As Charles read the note on camera, he started to tear up.
“I have always believed angels come when you least expect them.” She wrote, “This holds especially true in regards to Mr. Charles. I would like him to know how much we absolutely love him for who he is and what he has done for my son.”
According to School Transportations News. Charles and Kameron often get ice cream together now that school is out for the summer. The bus driver also cheers him on at his weekend baseball games.
1. What can be inferred from the first two paragraphs?A.Kameron was tired of Stephanie’s lessons. |
B.Kameron liked to compete for the first place. |
C.Kameron made friends with Mr. Charles. |
D.All kids in the kindergarten preferred material rewards. |
A.He behaved badly in school. |
B.He was to be dismissed from school. |
C.He had a poor sense of direction. |
D.He was affected more by the administrator. |
A.To show her gratitude to him. | B.To change Kameron’s attitude. |
C.To express a mother’s enthusiasm. | D.To get the school bus driver moved. |
A.Patient and cautious. | B.Caring and positive. |
C.Honest and determined. | D.Ambitious and sensitive. |