1 . Rome can be pricey for travelers, which is why many choose to stay in a hostel (旅社). The hostels in Rome offer a bed in a dorm room for around $25 a night, and for that, you’ll often get to stay in a central location (位置) with security and comfort.
Yellow HostelIf I had to make just one recommendation for where to stay in Rome, it would be Yellow Hostel. It’s one of the best-rated hostels in the city, and for good reason. It’s affordable, and it’s got a fun atmosphere without being too noisy. As an added bonus, it’s close to the main train station.
Hostel Alessandro PalaceIf you love social hostels, this is the best hostel for you in Rome. Hostel Alessandro Palace is fun. Staff members hold plenty of bar events for guests like free shots, bar crawls and karaoke. There’s also an area on the rooftop for hanging out with other travelers during the summer.
Youth Station HostelIf you’re looking for cleanliness and a modern hostel, look no further than Youth Station. It offers beautiful furnishings and beds. There are plenty of other benefits, too; it doesn’t charge city tax; it has both air conditioning and a heater for the rooms; it also has free Wi-Fi in every room.
Hotel and Hostel Des ArtistesHotel and Hostel Des Artistes is located just a 10-minute walk from the central city station and it’s close to all of the city’s main attractions. The staff is friendly and helpful, providing you with a map of the city when you arrive, and offering advice if you require some. However, you need to pay 2 euros a day for Wi-Fi.
1. What is probably the major concern of travelers who choose to stay in a hostel?A.Comfort. | B.Security. |
C.Price. | D.Location. |
A.Yellow Hostel. | B.Hostel Alessandro Palace. |
C.Youth Station Hostel. | D.Hotel and Hostel Des Artistes. |
A.It gets noisy at night. | B.Its staff is too talkative. |
C.It charges for Wi-Fi. | D.It’s inconveniently located. |
2 . Tom Sawyer Play Is an Adventure
A 35-minute hand-clapping, foot-stomping musical version of a Mark Twain favorite returns with this Tall Stacks festival.
“Tom Sawyer: A River Adventure” has all the good stuff, including the fence painting, the graveyard, the island and the cave. It is adapted by Joe McDonough, with music by David Kisor. That’s the local stage writing team that creates many of the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati’s original musicals, along with the holiday family musicals at Ensemble Theatre.
This year Nathan Turner of Burlington is Tom Sawyer, and Robbie McMath of Fort Mitchell is Huck Finn.
Tumer, a 10th-grader at School for Creative and Performing Arts, is a familiar presence on Cincinnati’s stages. He is a star act or of Children’s Theatre, having played leading roles in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and “The Wizard of Oz,” and is fresh from Jersey Production “Ragtime”.
McMath is a junior at Beechwood High School. He was in the cast of “Tom Sawyer” when it was first performed and is a Children’s Theatre regular, with five shows to his credit. This summer he attended Kentucky’s Governor’s School for the Arts in Musical Theatre.
Note to teachers: Children’s Theatre has a study guide demonstrating how math and science can be taught through “Tom Sawyer.” For downloadable lessons, visit the official website of Children’s Theatre.
1. Who wrote the music for “Tom Sawyer: A River Adventure”?A.David Kisor. | B.Joe McDonough. |
C.Nathan Turner. | D.Robbie McMath. |
A.They study in the same school. | B.They worked together in ”Ragtime“. |
C.They are experienced on stage. | D.They became friends ten years ago. |
A.Research funding. | B.Training opportunities. |
C.Technical support. | D.Educational resources. |
3 . We may weep for the dodo, but could and should we bring this lovely bird back from the dead? De-extinction is the science of restoring lost species and it has been in the news for decades.
The story in modern times began in 1990 when Michael Crichton published his science fiction novel Jurassic Park, in which he imagined a world where scientists were able to bring dinosaurs back to life. Crichton imagined that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology could be a way to amplify (放大) tiny quantities of dinosaur DNA and thus build a living embryo.
Sadly, biologists soon realized that DNA in fact breaks down super-fast; even after 100 years, DNA from museum skins of dodos was decayed (腐烂) beyond repair. They could be sequenced (测定序列) using massive computational power, but then only with considerable uncertainty. And even if you capture a DNA sequence, there’s still the problem of how you get living cells to read that sequence and express proteins that make the dinosaur or the dodo.
But why would anyone want to see mammoths, or something like them, roaming (漫游) present-day Siberia? Well, they were undoubtedly amazing beasts. As well as hunting them, our distant ancestors painted their likenesses in caves across Europe. Fascinating as they may be, there's some ecological justification for the project too.
It was this diversity of land surface, broken up by heavy limbs and randomly fertilised by faeces (排泄物), that supported so much flora (植物群). Without the mammoths, that diversity disappeared. Return them and landscapes would once again be with a variety of species, including flowers and bushes.
True, it’s not de-extinction in the sense of bringing a long-dead species back to life. Instead it’s more like making a “dodo” by engineering a modern pigeon, its closest relative, to become huge and flightless. The result would be a big, fatty pigeon that, whether it looked like a dodo or not, would probably fulfil some of its ecological roles.
As a palaeontologist, I would of course love to see living dinosaurs, mammoths and dodos. In some ways, though, I am relieved that the optimistic claims for cloning and genetic technologies have not been borne out. The slowdown gives us time to consider the outcomes—and hopefully avoid some of Michael Crichton’s more fevered imaginings.
1. What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?A.A science fiction review. | B.The development of DNA. |
C.An inspired guess of de-extinction. | D.The application of PCR technology. |
A.DNA is hard to keep for long. | B.Computational power is limited. |
C.Biologists are opposed to it. | D.Living cells cant be sequenced. |
A.They expect to seek hunt fun. | B.They lack sources of modern art. |
C.They need them for research. | D.They want to see biodiversity. |
A.Cautious. | B.Unclear. | C.Dismissive. | D.Approving. |
The frightening day of our diving test was here. Our parents thought we were lucky to have an Olympic-size swimming pool at the school. My mom stressed that the swimming pool was one of the best in our city. But I didn’t feel happy about it at all. Instead, I felt afraid of the swimming pool. It was mainly because I was terribly shy.
I was so shy that I always sat at the back of the room in class so I’d not be called upon to read. As for the present physical education class each Monday morning, I would work my way to the back of the line forming at the diving board so I would not have to practice the dives.
Now, it was another Monday morning - the morning of our diving test. My blood ran cold when the teacher Ms. Robbins announced that we would be graded for our final on the most difficult dive- the jackknife. And she added, “This diving test is important. The one who fails has to spare time in the following Monday mornings to practice diving in this swimming pool and attend this test again.”
My body kept shaking with fear as the line to the scary diving board shortened. As I watched, each student seemed to perform the challenging dive effortlessly. And shortly I would have to attempt something that I had never even practiced before.
Then I remembered someone telling me that when you picture yourself doing a skill over and over, it’s just as effective as physically practicing that skill. So I watched carefully as each classmate jumped at the end of the board once, added a jump for height, folded their body in half to reach for their toes, and finally straightened out like an arrow for going into the water. After carefully watching for a while, I was actually in a state of surprise, because all of a sudden I realized that it was possible for me to perform these four steps of diving.
Eventually all classmates except me finished jumping. The teacher announced that it was my turn.
注意:1. 续与词数应为150左右;2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
With my heart knocking wildly, I walked down the diving board towards its end.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Knowing I failed, I climbed out of the pool, embarrassed.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . If you want to know something about British life, their spirit, and even their humor, watching some classic British films will certainly help. Here are some recommended to you.
Notting HillAfter the success of his film Four Weddings and a Funeral, writer and producer Richard Curtis captured the essence of being British in 1999’s Notting Hill. Set against the background of affluent (富足的) West London, the film became popular for its charming and funny portrayal(刻画) of a British nobody trying to impress a Hollywood star.
The Full MontyThis 1997 film is a Sheffield-based comedy about six unemployed men who form a group to make money for a better life. Despite its hummer, the film dives deeper into some serious issues surrounding working-class culture. The Full Monty is an uplifting film that gives an insight into the work and life of the working class in Britain.
TrainspottingDanny Boyle’s 1996 comedy-drama Trainspotting is about a group of Scots in the 1980s, based on the book by Irvine Welsh. With a cast of truly great actors including Ewan MeGregor, the tale impressed the audience globally. It rapidly became a critical success.
Monty Python’s Life of BrianFeaturing a jam-packed cast of comedic stars. Monty Python’s Life of Brian tells the story of a young man who is in a case of mistaken identity. The film reflects the unusual and wonderful British sense of humour. As a film guaranteed to entertain, Monty Pythons Life of Brian is not to be missed by those looking for an insight into what makes the British laugh.
1. What can the audience learn about by watching The Full Monty?A.Hardships of comedic stars | B.Daily life of people in West London |
C.Unique experiences of some Scots. | D.Life of the British working class. |
A.A comedy film. | B.A science fiction film. |
C.An action movie | D.A horror movie. |
A.Notting Hill. | B.The Full Monty. |
C.Trainspotting. | D.Monty Python’s Life of Brian. |
6 . For my daughter's 19th birthday, we bought her tickets to go and see Linkin Park, as they were playing in our city. We didn't really have the
The night before she was like a
Needless to say when they
Later that day they returned, with faces full of happiness and warmth. They presented my husband and me with a
This wasn't something
A.money | B.time | C.interest | D.news |
A.worker | B.baby | C.kid | D.parent |
A.dance | B.learn | C.walk | D.sit |
A.speak | B.sleep | C.stand | D.leave |
A.healthy | B.happy | C.pretty | D.surprised |
A.stayed | B.left | C.returned | D.turned |
A.worrying about | B.caring for | C.looking at | D.listening to |
A.lent | B.earned | C.saved | D.spent |
A.Still | B.Only | C.Just | D.Also |
A.continued | B.tried | C.decided | D.struggled |
A.kept | B.lost | C.realized | D.discovered |
A.gift | B.prize | C.ticket | D.picture |
A.richest | B.oldest | C.best | D.cleverest |
A.important | B.ordinary | C.new | D.valuable |
A.feelings | B.concerns | C.understandings | D.opinions |
As a young boy, I was carefree. Every vacation I looked forward to two things—seeing my grandpa and hearing his wonderful stories. My grandpa was a very good storyteller. He had worked various odd jobs when he was young and wove his adventures and misadventures into fantastic tales. These wonderful tales colored my childhood.
As I grew up, I had to admit that Grandpa’s stories went on a little long, even a little boring and gradually lost their magic. However, not wanting to upset him, my brother and I would sometimes take turns sitting in the living room, listening to grandpa tell his stories.
When my grandpa was approaching 91, he suffered from serious memory-loss. It was kind of what doctors called dementia (痴呆), probably the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Following the doctor’s directions, we moved him into a Sunrise Assisted Living Community, where he could get a better care. After that, grandpa hardly came to our house.
One weekend before my grandpa’s birthday, I came to visit him. Seeing grandpa sitting in his armchair, dull-looking, I was consumed with mixed feelings. I wheeled grandpa to the sunshine in the courtyard, talking to him. He couldn’t express himself clearly and spoke in short bursts, but I listened to him patiently and carefully just as I used to be a little boy.
It was then that I noticed a shadow box with some old and yellowish photos in it. I picked one up, in which my brother, several boys in our neighborhood, and I were playing basketball with grandpa cheering us on twenty years before. My mind flashed back to those beautiful memories. Back then, Grandpa was in good physical condition and we were all wearing basketball jerseys, playing and laughing with abandon. I presented the photo to my grandpa, pointing at each member and reminding him of their names. Incredibly, grandpa could speak out the name of every player. I even caught a soft light in grandpa’s eyes and a smile on his lips.
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。
A bright idea for grandpa’s birthday came to my mind.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing “the same players” playing there, grandpa seemed to have thought of something.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8 . Is there a single word that motivates us more than “weekend”? It’s like the promise of a sweet holiday following what seems like long-time exhaustion. It’s the spring in our step that gets bouncier with each passing day — until by Friday, we’re practically bumping our heads against the ceiling.
The trouble is that the weekend is a rip-off. You think you’re getting 48 hours of unconditional downtime, but reality takes a discount. In fact, it takes most of Sunday. That’s when anxiety comes creeping in and another countdown begins: 12 hours until Monday. Sure, the weekend is free time. But the mounting stress of an incoming Monday can ease any joy you might get from a Sunday evening.
That feeling is so common among the Monday-to-Friday crowd that there’s even more than one name for it: the Sunday Scaries, or Sunday Fear Syndrome. Going from a countdown to the weekend to a countdown to Monday can be difficult. Even monster.com — a website that specializes in binding humans to the Monday-to-Friday cycle — admits it’s a problem. In a survey, Monster found that 76% of Americans have “really had” Sunday night blues.
For most people, Sunday is no holiday at all. It may all come down to the same problem: We can’t stop thinking about tomorrow. Even worse, we may develop some downright unhealthy coping strategies for that transition from weekends to Monday. Some might resists — staying up late, milking every minute of a fleeting Sunday in the form of mind-numbing distractions.
But why should Monday cast such a long and fearful shadow on our lives? Maybe it’s because the counter is reset and the weekend, or happiness, seems at furthest point. If, like most of us, you have a tolerable job, but don’t much like the whole idea of working, there are plenty of ways to make Mondays a little less stressful. Most importantly, don’t leave any unsettled Friday business hanging over the weekend. So, clear the decks and tie up loose ends.
1. What do we know about the weekend in Paragraph 2?A.It is hard-earned. |
B.It doesn’t bring joy as expected. |
C.It adds to people’s anxiety and stress. |
D.It provides good time to relax. |
A.To clarify a question. | B.To show its popularity. |
C.To provides an illustration. | D.To support his idea. |
A.Tolerant. | B.Conservative. | C.Unwise. | D.Practical. |
A.Why People Are Stressed Out on Fridays |
B.Why Monday Takes a Bite out of Sunday |
C.Why a Countdown to the Weekend Is Difficult |
D.Why Monday Casts a Fearful Shadow on Our Lives |
In 2001, when Kunqu Opera
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