1 . Animal appear to predict earthquakes by sensing electricity in the air — the first study to find reliable evidence of the phenomenon has shown.
Cameras revealed an “amazing” drop in the number of animals up to 23 days before a major quake hit their rainforest home at Yanachaga National Park in Peru. Lead scientist Dr Rachel Grant, from Anglia Ruskin University, said, “The results showed that just before the earthquake, animals’ activity dropped right down.”
On a normal day the cameras placed around Yanachaga National Park record between 5 and 15 animals. But in the 23 days before the earthquake, the number of animals dropped to five or fewer per day. No animals were photographed at all on five of the seven days immediately before the quake.
Another study showed that animal activity remained normal in the park over a different period when seismic (地震的) activity was low. Co-author, professor Friedemann Freund, said, “The cameras were located at an altitude of 900 meters. If air ionization occurred, the animals would escape to the valley below, where there were fewer positive ions ( 离子). With their ability to sense their environment, animals can help us understand small changes that occur before major earthquakes.”
Other evidence suggested that before the earthquake, the air around the high mountain sites filled with positive ions that can be produced when rocks are placed under stress. Positive ions have been known to cause ill effects in humans as well as animals. Scientists believe the animals were made to feel uncomfortable by the positive ions, leading them to avoid the area. They are thought to have escaped to lower ground, where the air was less ionized. The findings may help experts develop better short-term seismic forecasts.
1. How did scientists conduct the study?| A．By comparing different animals’ habits. |
| B．By observing animals in high mountains. |
| C．By explaining the positive ion phenomenon. |
| D．By analyzing images of animals they obtained. |
| A．The ground at a lower altitude is less ionized. |
| B．Cameras normally record more animals per day. |
| C．Earthquake warnings can be detected in lower places. |
| D．The activity of animals and earthquakes is consistent. |
| A．The findings make for accurate seismic forecast. |
| B．Animals tend to be uneasy with more positive ions. |
| C．Positive ions make humans and animals depressed. |
| D．All the animals remain abnormal before the earthquake. |
| A．Negative Influence of Positive Ions. |
| B．Ions’ Destruction to the Environment. |
| C．Animals’ Behavior Before Earthquakes. |
| D．Creatures’ Ability to Predict Earthquakes. |
| A．he was able to make himself hear |
| B．he was able to make himself heard |
| C．was he able to make himself hear |
| D．was he able to make himself heard |
Teen Becomes A Local Hero
When Sydney Raley headed into her weekend shift on Saturday, December 18, she likely expected to do more of the same: Stand at the drive-through window, take orders over the headset, and hand each customer their meal with a smile.
In fact. that’s exactly how it started. Sydney Raley has been working at MC Donald’s for about seven months and so far, it’s been her typical after-school job. The day had been mostly normal -making coffee, making drinks, and going into the lunch rush.
But a few hours into her shift. things took a dramatic turn. After handing a customer some of their food, Sydney let them know that more would be coming as soon as it was ready. But just seconds later, she noticed a terrible look of panic spread across the woman’s face. Then came the coughing. She was coughing like crazy and was speechless. Her daughter was in the passenger seat and looked extremely confused and frightened.
Sydney immediately knew she was choking. The first aid training Sydney received more than four years ago hit her. Most 15-year-olds might panic at the sight of this. But not Sydney. Instead, the teen remained calm and quickly shouted to both her manager and the woman’s daughter to dial 911. Then, she dove through the drive-through window and came to the rescue.
The teen pushed the driver’s side door forcefully open and got the choking woman to her feet. Then she dug down deep into her memory bank to recall everything she learned from her Red Cross babysitter class-which she’d taken four years earlier. All that training of how to use the Heimlich maneuver(哈姆立克急教法)immediately kicked in. Still, she had never actually had to use the life-saving technique before, and after a few tries, it wasn’t quite working. Luckily, another customer was just a few feet away in the parking lot.
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。
She shouted to that man for assistance.
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The story has made headlines throughout the country.
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1.活动评价：
2.收获及感想。
注意：
1.词数80左右：
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Good morning, everyone!
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Thank you!
5 . If you live in Washington, D. C., or Redwood, Calif., you may have glimpsed a small, boxy robot rolling along a local sidewalk, minding it’s own business, but attracting the attention of many a curious onlooker. The autonomous machines were part of a pilot program last year by Starship Technologies focused on delivering meals from local restaurants in dozens of cities around the world.
“Today, more than ever, people lead a busy and diverse life,” Lex Bayer, Starship’s CEO, said in a statement online. “The hassle of needing to rearrange your life for a delivery will become a thing of the past. You don’t have to switch your working from home day, reschedule meetings, visit a locker, drive to a post office or contact a deliveryman all because of a missed delivery.”
The package delivery service is not available to everyone just yet. The company said it’s rolling out the service in Milton Keynes, England. The wheeled robots have a top speed of 4 mph and can detect obstacles from as far as 30 feet away. “The robot can operate through just about anything,” Nick Handrick, head of operations for Starship’s D. C. office, told The Washington Post's Maura Judkis last year. “If you had something in the way—a stick—it’s able to climb the edges of a road.”
By giving customers control of when deliveries occur, Starship Technologies is offering its service as a way to battle package theft. In its announcement, the company cited statistics from a Wakefield Research Poll for Comcast last year that found that 3 in 10 Americans who live in houses or townhouses have had packages stolen.
To sign up for the service, which costs a little more than $10 per month, customers need to download the company's app. Customers then create a “Starship Delivery Address,” a unique address inside a Starship facility, instead of a residence, where they can have packages sent from places such as Amazon, com. Once a package is delivered to the Starship address, customers receive a text that allows them to schedule a home delivery via robot.
1. Which can best replace the underlined word “hassle” in paragraph 2?| A．failure | B．expectation | C．safety | D．trouble |
| A．There is a limit to its service area. |
| B．It takes longer to deliver packages. |
| C．It covers a short distance each time. |
| D．It can’t sense the barriers 20 feet away. |
| A．The company shortens the delivery hour. |
| B．The package is delivered to the house directly. |
| C．Its delivery time is in the control of customers. |
| D．The customers are informed of its delivery time in advance. |
| A．It is a real home address of the customers. |
| B．It can arrange delivery robots for the customers. |
| C．It is a cheaper solution to the delivery of packages. |
| D．It sends the packages mainly to some shopping platforms. |
1. 表示祝贺；
2. 赞扬Harry的刻苦精神；
3. 欢迎和期待。
注意：
1. 词数应为80左右；
2. 参考词汇：水平考试七级 HSK 7 test
Dear Harry,
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Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
7 . Why Black Friday Shoppers Still Crowd Stores
To many of us, the ideas of rushing out to a superstore the day after Thanksgiving is appealing. Why would anyone race to crowded stores when they could stay in with family, or watch college football? We can’t say we know the answer for sure. But we do feel amazed at those who pour into stores looking for Black Friday bargains. Seemingly, nothing can stop them. Not the weather. Not the crowds. And not the fact that hurrying to a store in the age of instant e-commerce seems so…last century.
To be sure, holiday shopping habits do appear to be shifting. The National Retail (零售) Federation has stopped breaking up its holiday sales numbers by whether they come from e-tail purchases or from physical stores. It’s a pretty good sign that retailers don’t want to bring further attention to the declining fortunes of brick-and-mortar stores.
But there is no denying that people still love going to stores. Actual shopping in actual places remains an important part of the holiday ceremony for millions of Americans. To many, it’s the difference between playing a sport and playing a video game. As commercial as stores may be, they are still places where actual human beings interact. In a store, the “courageous” shopper performs the approving act of finding a present. That item might be heavily promoted by the store, but it doesn’t drop into one’s cart. It is picked up and examined before a decision is made. Maybe it gets put back on the shelf when the shopper changes his or her mind. Maybe there is a conversation with a sales clerk. The process is not that different than it would have been decades ago.
Online, the shopper has barely logged in before being faced with disturbing algorithmic (大数据的) suggestions based on earlier purchases. This hardly qualifies as shopping. This hardly qualifies as thinking.
Perhaps we are reading too much into the Black Friday phenomenon. But we suspect one reason Black Friday remains is that it involves an act of resistance against the Internet age. That would hardly be unreasonable. There aren’t many studies showing that time spent in stores is bad for one’s health, while there are quite a few drawing a link between time spent online and depression. Perhaps the people crowding into stores aren’t the crazy ones after all.
1. What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?| A．Physical stores are not so popular as before. |
| B．People spend more on Black Friday bargains. |
| C．Americans have an unhealthy shopping habit. |
| D．Goods in stores are cheaper than those online. |
| A．they feel tired of shopping online |
| B．they think it is good for their health |
| C．they hope to pass down the holiday tradition |
| D．they can have real communication with others |
| A．Puzzling. |
| B．Unusual. |
| C．Out-of-date. |
| D．Understandable. |
| A．The psychology of shopping. |
| B．The development of retailing. |
| C．The influences of e-commerce. |
| D．The features of holiday economy. |
| A．where sit the European leaders | B．the European leaders there sit |
| C．sit the European leaders | D．that the European leaders sit |
| A．working hard is very important | B．working hard is needed |
| C．one must work hard | D．it is needed to work hard |
| A．learning | B．to learn | C．learn | D．to learning |
