1 . The library is the heart of a university——its collections, services, and study spaces are central to every student’s educational journey. Let’s take a look at some famous university libraries around the world.
Magdalen College Old Library
Oxford University is famous for its academic programs, but it’s also known for its outstanding libraries that are said to include more than 11 million books. The Old Library at Magdalen College is the crown jewel of the university’s library system. It contains more than 20,000 rare books and manuscripts. Nearly all of these volumes were published before 1800.
TU Delft Library
The library at the Delft University of Technology was constructed in 1997, which has more than 862,000 books, 16,000 magazine subscriptions and its own museum. But it will only take a glance to be attracted, as it is a sight to remember. The building itself exists beneath the ground, so you can’t really see the actual library. What makes it interesting is the roof, which is a grassy hill.
Trinity College Library
The Trinity College Library in Dublin is the oldest library in Ireland, founded in 1592 by Queen Elizabeth I. It contains more than 200,000 of the library’s oldest books. Treasures of the library’s extensive collection include a rare copy of the 1916 proclamation of the Irish Republic and a beautiful 15th century harp (竖琴).
Joe and Rika Mansueto Library
Opened in 2011, the Joe and Rika Mansueto Library at the University of Chicago is designed with a grand glass roof, perfect for staring out when you are tired. The library can hold around 3.5 million volumes through its underground automatic storage and retrieval system. If you are not already impressed, the librarians, robotic cranes, will knock your socks off. They can locate and bring you any book within an average time of 3 minutes.
1. What do Magdalen College Old Library & Trinity College Library have in common?| A．Both house stringed instruments. | B．Both feature attractive designs. |
| C．Both boast numerous ancient books. | D．Both gain recognition as crown jewels. |
| A．TU Delft Library. | B．Trinity College Library. |
| C．Magdalen College Old Library. | D．Joe and Rika Mansueto Library. |
| A．The glass roof. | B．The volume of books. |
| C．The storage system. | D．The robotic librarians. |
2 . There are many apps out there that claim to help us organize our lives, but finding the really useful ones is not easy. Here are some great apps that get you on the way to start organizing your life.
1. My Fitness Pal
Whether you’re trying to lose weight or simply want to keep an eye on day-to-day food, My Fitness Pal is a must-have tool. In addition to giving you the calorie count of any meal you plug in, the free app will also give you its protein, fat and carbohydrates. It also allows you to input water intake, track your daily exercise and weight, and get a clear graph to visualize progress.
2. Microsoft To Do
People today are juggling(同时应付)more than ever before. Enter Microsoft To Do to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Thanks to this free task management app, it’s extremely simple to create to-do lists and reminders. For example, flag an email, and it’ll then be automatically added to your to-do list. Or, highlight part of an email and the same thing will happen. No referring back and forth between multiple platforms to stay organized!
3. LastPass
Everything seems to require a password now, and the passwords required get more complicated, thus difficult to remember. LastPass is an app that stores all your passwords in one place. Actually this storage space is itself password-protected, which means you only need to remember one master password to access LastPass. LastPass works everywhere, even across browsers and operating systems.
The basic plan is free, but there are paid options that allow multiple users and more storage.
1. What can My Fitness Pal help people do?| A．Know about their food intake. | B．Protect their eyes. |
| C．Learn to make clear graphs. | D．Do more body exercise. |
| A．It will slip through the cracks. | B．It will be in your to-do list. |
| C．It will be automatically sent. | D．It will be between multiple platforms. |
| A．They are totally free of charge. | B．They require much storage. |
| C．They are very easy to find. | D．They help people to be organized. |
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）画掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
1. To my surprised, the door of the library was locked when I got there.
2. We spent two hours sing songs in the karaoke bar yesterday.
3. If it rains tomorrow, I stay at home to do my homework.
4. We don’t have too many homework to do today.
5. He liked the book so very much that he wanted to buy one immediately.
4 . Is there intelligent life on other planets? For years, scientists said “no,” or “we don’t know.” But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers. They believe intelligent life exists somewhere in the universe. They also think we sill soon contact these beings.
Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. “This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life,” say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size—the universe is huge. “Tools like the Hubble Telescope (哈勃望远镜) have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies,” says Shostak. “And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth.”
In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes (高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets—the size of Mars or Earth—in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.
Have beings from space already visited Earth? “Probably not,” says Shostak. “It’s a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals (信号). In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don’t have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.”
1. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are _________.| A．Astronomers | B．Farmers | C．Singers | D．Drivers |
| A．Earth: The Only Planet with Intelligent Life. | B．Our galaxy: The Milky Way. |
| C．The Age and Size of Earth. | D．Why Intelligent Life Might Exist. |
| A．There were not any smaller planets. |
| B．The astronomers were not interested in them. |
| C．There were not any powerful telescopes. |
| D．The Milky Way didn’t exist at that time. |
| A．They’re afraid of us. | B．It’s a long way away. |
| C．They don’t want to see us. | D．They don’t know how to use radio signals. |
| A．look out | B．look after | C．look through | D．look for |
6 . Fiona Kolbinger, a 24-year-old cancer researcher From Germany with little experience in competitive cycling, took the world by surprise when she became the first female to win the Transcontinental Race this year. She surpassed 225 men and 39 women to finish about 2,485 miles’ race from Bulgaria to France in 10 days, two hours, and 48 minutes.
“When I was coming into the race, I never thought I could win the whole race,” Kolbinger said. While the cyclist’s unexpected victory shocked people worldwide, she’s unimpressed. Despite resting an average(平均) of just four hours a night throughout the ten-day period, Kolbinger says, “I think I could have gone harder. I could have slept less.”
Now in its seventh year, the Transcontinental Race was founded by the late British ultra-cyclist Mike Hall. The race requires not only racers’ biking skills and endurance(耐力), but also their route planning and time management skills. “Riders plan, research and lead their own course and choose when, where and if to rest,” the Transcontinental Race’s website explains. “They’ll take only what they can carry and eat only what they can find.”
Unlike other cycling competitions where the routes are carefully laid out, the Transcontinental Race requires riders to make a map of their own course. The only requirement is to check in at four stops, located at different points along the way. To make sure all competitors experience some of the same challenges, each checkpoint is followed by strict terrain(地形).
The event’s difficulty has meant previous winners have all been experienced ultra-cyclists. Given that this was Kolbinger’s first try at endurance racing, her victory shocked many. However, it didn’t surprise Björn Lenhard, who trained with her for the race in Dresden, Germany. The ultra-cyclist said, “Fiona is so strong. What’s more, she’s a complete rider. Yes, you need to be strong, but in this race, you have to be able to think, to plan, to fix your bike if you have to.”
1. What does the underlined word “surpass” in the first paragraph mean?| A．Treated. | B．Encouraged. |
| C．Helped. | D．Beat. |
| A．They have to be experienced. |
| B．They have to be smart enough. |
| C．They have to be self-supporting. |
| D．They have to ride along the given roads. |
| A．It requires cyclists to go through at least four terrains. |
| B．It requires cyclists to plan courses alone. |
| C．It is much fairer than other races. |
| D．It needs to be carefully laid out. |
| A．It is expected. | B．It is encouraging. |
| C．It is shocking. | D．It is rewarding |
7 . While dolphin research is till in its infancy(初期), the wealth of information that we may one day obtain from these magnificent creatures is unimaginable. One lesson that we can learn from them today, however, could be a key to the survival of our civilization. In today's dog-eat-dog world, the dolphin community may just offer a few lessons that we should take the time to learn.
There's a saying in our culture that suggests "it takes a village to raise a child". In earlier times, our society often reflected this concept. Today, however, morals and values are almost nonexistent and technology continues to contribute to, the breakdown of our families, communities and our society as a whole. Dolphins, however, are cooperative and playful. Their inner societies or pods exist under extremely dangerous conditions only because of the closeness and support the members offer to one another. In the world of the dolphin, members care for and protect each other. Dolphins are creatures of socialization just as we are.
As human beings, maybe its time that we take a look back at how we have evolved and consider instead returning to the way of the dolphin. Rather than spreading farther and farther from each other, the answer to our problems is perhaps instead, to come closer. The pod concept that protects dolphins could very well be the ideal that could protect our families and our communities.
There is, in fact, a society that is seriously contemplating the concept of pod living. The Sirius Institute, http:/www. planetpuna. com, in Hawaii has actually developed a model human society based on pod living. According to their website, Sirius believes that the pod model, can help us" restore(恢复)our currently fragmented(碎片化的)society. "The model provides an environment where" humans can belong to something bigger than themselves and be accepted for who they are and the contributions they make."
1. How does the author feel about the world today?| A．Highly competitive. | B．Very cooperative. |
| C．Much civilized. | D．Environmentally friendly. |
| A．Competition. | B．Lack of belief. | C．Technology. | D．Economy crisis. |
| A．Looking at something for a long time. | B．Thinking carefully for a long time. |
| C．Thinking highly of. | D．Paying attention to. |
| A．How to Survive in Society. | B．The Concept of Pod Living. |
| C．What contributes to Modern Society. | D．Learn from Dolphins. |
注意：1.内容应包括以上要点，可以适当发挥，增加细节，以使文章连贯；
2．开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数；
3．词数：100左右。
Dear Li Ming，
I'm sorry to hear that you have some difficulty in learning English. I've got some advice on how to make it. As we all know, English is very important.
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All the best!
Yours,
Li Hua
