1 . Mrs. Oren, with her family, lived down the block from us. We were four kids living with our parents happily.
Our happiness
My morning
It was heartbreaking that I soon
What would have happened to us but for a caring
A.returned | B.approached | C.ended | D.spread |
A.Eventually | B.Fortunately | C.Temporarily | D.Particularly |
A.attended to | B.picked up | C.got back | D.came across |
A.in need | B.in the way | C.out of sight | D.at work |
A.business | B.movement | C.routine | D.career |
A.referring to | B.asking about | C.calming down | D.waking up |
A.relaxed | B.worried | C.dizzy | D.dynamic |
A.suppose | B.remember | C.forecast | D.reconsider |
A.kitchen | B.living room | C.bedroom | D.hall |
A.spotted | B.heard | C.imagined | D.left |
A.responsible | B.unprepared | C.unnoticed | D.desperate |
A.connected | B.rushed | C.forced | D.limited |
A.as usual | B.at first | C.by chance | D.in person |
A.result | B.truth | C.action | D.scene |
A.teacher | B.classmate | C.neighbor | D.relative |
2 . If you’re interested in increasing your academic knowledge, consider taking an online college course.
Open Culture
It provides access to over 1,700 college courses for free. They’re chosen from subjects like literature and computer science or specific schools like Harvard and Oxford. If you want to obtain an online degree, you pay the relevant fees. The site also provides access to certificates, movies, and e-books. Some course categories include:
Architecture
Communication
FutureLearn
It offers free membership classes in several subjects, like law and literature, taught by college professors and industry experts. Premium (高级) membership courses are available for a fee. There are various course types, which are short courses, online degrees, ExpertTracks and Microcredentials. You can complete the courses at your own pace. Featured courses include:
Copywriting Fundamentals
A Beginner’s Guide to Fashion Design
Academic Earth
It matches prospective students with online coursework, either to audit (旁听) or work towards a degree. It’s free to audit classes, but if you seek course credits, you pay a fee before attending the class. You may also select the university you wish to receive your online degree based on the ones the site offers. Its degree program includes subjects like:
Business
Education
Coursera
It affords students access to free courses and paid degree courses from several distinguished international colleges and universities. From the site, you can explore earning a certification or a degree based on your learning goals. If you’re seeking a new career path, the site can help you with the process by offering courses to develop your skills and earn professional documents. A few of the free classes offered include:
Financial Markets
Introduction to Psychology
1. What is special about FutureLearn’s courses?A.They can all be learned flexibly. | B.They all belong to premium members. |
C.They’re all related to law and literature. | D.They’re all taught by college professors. |
A.Academic Earth. | B.Open Culture. |
C.FutureLearn. | D.Coursera. |
A.They’re fit for beginners with free time. |
B.They specifically serve working people. |
C.They only charge for their certain courses. |
D.They offer courses for awarding degrees only. |
3 . One of the best essay contests of 2024, this competition sponsored by the Writer’s Digest promotes nonfiction of all kinds: “personal or political, traditional or experimental”, but your essay should be at least 1,000 words and 1,500 words at most.
Eligibility (资格):Students are eligible to participate if they are in grades nine through twelve in any of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. territories, or if they are U. S. citizens/lawful permanent residents attending high school overseas. Students may be attending a public or private school. Entries from home-schooled students are also accepted.
Submission:Fill out the online registration form. All fields on the online form are required, including uploading a Microsoft Word (doc. or docx.) file of your original work with a title in English which should include a comprehensive list of sources consulted. Entries must be typed, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman.
Teacher or parent: Student registration forms must have a teacher or parent name. That person may review the submitted essay and act as the key contact.
Do not place your last name or your school’s name on any of the pages of the essay.
Your essay will be disqualified if it does not meet the requirements or is submitted after the submission date of 11:59 p.m. EDT on June 1, 2024.
Prizes:$1,000 to the writer of the winning essay, in addition to an all-expense paid trip to the Writer’s Digest Annual Conference! The runner-up wins a writing coaching package valued at $650 and the third, a diversity editing package valued at $350.
1. Who can participate in the contest?A.A Chinese teenager. | B.A high school teacher. |
C.An American tenth-grader. | D.A professional writer. |
A.Uploading a Word version of the original work. |
B.Writing personal name on the first page of the entry. |
C.Filling in the application form and posting it in time. |
D.Making sure of the words of the entry beyond 1,500. |
A.A free trip. | B.A cash prize. |
C.A diversity editing package. | D.A writing coaching package. |
Hong Kong’s tiny Tai Hang district is usually one of the city’s
Dragon dance leader Chan Tak-fai, who has been organizing the event for the past 20 years, first got involved
5 . Washington, DC is a theatre town. Here’s where you can get the best performances and cultural experiences offered for every taste in the nation’s capital.
Kennedy Center
Kennedy Center hosts hundreds of world-class performances each year and is home to the National Symphony Orchestra and the Washington National Opera. The Suzanne Farrell Ballet also counts Kennedy Center as its performance headquarters. The company—under the direction of Farrell—was first invited to perform there in 1993 and has since become one of the venue’s most famous attractions.
Woolly Mammoth CompanyWoolly Mammoth Company is an experimental theatre that welcomes original plays that push the boundaries of live theatre. The New York Times has called it “Washington’s most daring theatre company”, and the half dozen plays Woolly produces each year continue to live up to that reputation.
Shakespeare Theatre Company
For more than 25 years, Shakespeare Theatre Company has committed itself to serving as the nation’s classical theatre. It operates out of two spaces, including Sidney Harman Hall at the Harman Center, which seats 775, and the Lansburgh Theatre, which seats 451. The shiny, glass-walled Harman Center showcases classic Shakespeare plays, modern updates and Shakespeare-inspired original shows.
Wolf Trap
For locals, summer isn’t complete without at least one trip to Wolf Trap, the only national park dedicated to the performing arts. The venue is best-known for performances of touring artists. The open-air theatre offers covered seating, but when the weather warms up, we suggest buying seats on the grassland and packing a picnic.
1. When did the Suzanne Farrell Ballet first perform at Kennedy Center?A.In 1993. | B.In 1998. | C.In 2000. | D.In 2003. |
A.The Harman Center. | B.Woolly Mammoth Company. |
C.The Lansburgh Theatre. | D.Shakespeare Theatre Company. |
A.Its covered seating. | B.Its Shakespeare plays. |
C.Its selected directors. | D.Its open-air atmosphere. |
A.Food. | B.Animals. | C.Northern Canada. |
A.$4. | B.$6. | C.$12. |
8 . Four Best Classic Books for You to Read
If you’ve always wanted to tackle the classics but never known where to begin, we’ve got you covered. We’ve selected four best classic books for you to read.
The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling
This short novel tells the story of two British men visiting India under Britain’s control. The men trick their way to a remote region where one of them comes to be respected as King. A tale warning against letting things go to your head, this funny story has been made into a classic film starring Michael Caine and Sean Connery.
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
Born in the first hour of India’s independence, Saleem Sinai is gifted with the power of an extraordinary sense of smell. He soon discovers that there are 1, 001 others with similar abilities, who can help him build a new India. The winner of the Booker prize in 1981, Salman Rushdie’s groundbreaking novel is a great achievement of magical realism. This great success was followed by his another novel Shame (1983).
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
If you’re not familiar with Dickens, his evergreen Christmastime classic is the perfect introduction. It’s a slim 104-page book — a true Christmas surprise from an author with a tendency towards the tome (大部头书) like his Great Expectations, which is another classic! It’s the perfect book for you to read in winter just when you want to feel that warm holiday atmosphere.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
Meet John Singer, a deaf and mute (哑的) man who sits in the same café every day. Here, in the deep American South of the 1930s, John meets various kinds of people and acts as the silent and kind keeper of their stories — right up until an unforgettable ending that will blow you away. It’s hard to believe McCullers was only 23 when she wrote this classic.
1. Which book won a prize in 1981?A.Shame. | B.Midnight’s Children. |
C.The Man Who Would Be King. | D.The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter. |
A.It’s more popular. | B.It’s Dickens’ first tome. |
C.It’s shorter in length. | D.It’s written in Indian. |
A.Work as a waiter. | B.Help the disabled. |
C.Read stories to others. | D.Observe different people. |
9 . An outbreak of bird flu(禽流感) moved from Asia to Europe, and has now spread to North America, which has led to the deaths of tens of millions of birds.
The last time there was a bird flu outbreak was seven years ago. The 2015 bird flu caused the death of over 50 million birds in the US alone. Slowly, over time, that outbreak was brought to a close by itself. This version of bird flu was first noticed in Saudi Arabia in February,2020. All through 2020 and 2021, the disease continued to spread. Wild birds which caught the flu in one part of the world carried the disease to other parts as they travelled.
The current bird flu appears to be at least as deadly as the 2015 flu, and seems to spread more easily. As one expert put it, “A lot more birds appear to be affected.” In the US alone, over 40 different kinds of wild birds have been found to have the disease, and those birds are spread out over 30 different states. Among the wild birds hit the hardest are water birds like ducks and geese. Birds which eat other birds, like eagles, are also being heavily affected. To keep the flu from spreading, farms with a few infected birds often have to kill thousands of birds, even if they don’t all have the disease yet.
Some scientists think this virus will stick around in wild bird populations. “I hope that this is not the case. I hope that in the US this infection will go away soon,” says Ron Fouchier, a virologist(病毒学家) at Erasmus Medical Center in the Netherlands. “But there’s no guarantee for that, as we’ve seen in Europe now that this virus has remained present for several years.”
1. What do we know about the 2015 bird flu?A.It was discovered in Saudi Arabia. | B.It had little effect on the birds. |
C.It appeared in different forms. | D.It came to an end on its own. |
A.The performance of the infected birds. | B.The killing of the bird flu. |
C.The current bird flu’s consequences. | D.The tough choices for farmers. |
A.Positive. | B.Uncertain. | C.Uncaring. | D.Disapproving. |
A.A magazine about animals. | B.A novel about ordinary people. |
C.A health guidebook. | D.A medicine book. |
10 . Our General English 20+ course is a practical course for motivated (积极的) adults who want to develop their confidence in communicating in English in a variety of situations. In small groups, you will develop your fluency and accuracy with realistic role-plays and real-life situations. Full-time or part-time choices are available to fit around your work, childcare or lifestyle commitments.
Our learners typically come from a wide range of backgrounds and an average of 70 nationalities per year.
For people who book 8 weeks or more, we have a special support system to ensure that your needs are met throughout your time with us and that you continue to see progress in your skills. This extra support includes extra free help and personalized feedback. We will communicate regularly with you so that any issues can be dealt with as quickly as possible.
Here’s more information about our course:
Maximum group size: 8
Minimum age: 20
Duration (时长) : a minimum of 1 week
Full-time: 24 hours per week; 9: 30-15: 45/16: 00 (Monday to Friday)
Part-time: 12 hours per week; choose morning or afternoon classes
Morning: 9: 30-12: 00 (Monday to Friday)
Afternoon: 13: 30-16: 00 (Monday to Friday)
At the end of this English course you can expect to understand the news and media better, use English more effectively for work or travel, deal with everyday. situations like meeting people or booking a hotel, and have developed your reading, writing, speaking and listening skills.
1. What’s special about the English conversations during the course?A.They are academic. | B.They are natural. | C.They are informal. | D.They are easy. |
A.Join a group of eight. | B.Choose full-time classes. |
C.Give your personalized feedback. | D.Book at least an eight-week course. |
A.They should be 20 or older. | B.They have to be on the job. |
C.They should be free at weekends. | D.They must be native English speakers. |