1 . The longest rail link in the world and the first direct link between China and Spain is running after a train from Yiwu completed its journey of 8, 111 miles to Madrid. On the way, it passed through Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus, Poland, Germany and France before arriving in Madrid. The railway has been considered as the “21st-century Silk Road” by Li Qiang, the governor of Zhejiang province, where Yiwu is located.
The first train was met by the mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, and Spain’s minister of public works, Ana Pastor. It consisted of 30 containers carrying 1,100 tonnes of cargo —— mostly toys stationery (文具) and other goods for sale over Christmas across Europe. According to China’s ambassador to Spain, Zhu Banzao, it will return filled with wine, jamon and olive oil in time for the Chinese new year in February.
China is Spain’s biggest trading partner after the EU and it is also Spain’s third largest source of imports (进口产品), after Germany and France. About half of these imports are made up of mobile phones and clothing. The Spanish prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, was in China in September, where he signed deals reported to be worth more than ￡6.3 billion.
A major advantage of the rail route is speed. The train took just three weeks to complete a Journey that takes up to six weeks by sea. It is also more environmentally friendly than road transport, which would produce 1l4 tonnes of CO2 compared with the 44 tonnes produced by the train —— a 62% reduction.
1. What is the main purpose of running the direct train link?| A．To exchange goods. |
| B．To celebrate festivals. |
| C．To improve environment. |
| D．To make sure of the safety of transport. |
| A．Green and fast. | B．Quick and expensive. |
| C．Changeable and productive. | D．Comfortable and fashionable. |
| A．News. | B．Environment. |
| C．Lifestyle. | D．Culture. |
2 . Ever since humans began adventuring into space, 227 astronauts have performed activities outside the spaceship. While 14 of those have been women, the female astronauts have always been with a male partner. On October 18, 2019, US astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir became the first all-female team to carry out a spacewalk to replace a failed battery controller.
The historic event began at 7: 38 a. m. when Koch and Meir set their spacesuits to battery power. Live-broadcast by NASA, it was watched by thousands of space fans, particularly young girls dreaming to be astronauts. The scientists, who spent seven hours and 17 minutes fixing the controller and completing other tasks for the station, were able to observe the Earth passing under their feet. Koch and Meir returned to the International Space Station at 2: 55 p.m., where they were welcomed with cheers by their four male workmates.
When asked about the importance of this spacewalk, Koch said, “In the end, I do think it’s important because of the historical nature of what we’re doing. In the past, women haven’t always been at the table. It’s wonderful to be contributing to the space program at a time when all contributions are being accepted and everyone has a role. That can lead in turn to increased chance for success. There are a lot of people who get encouragement from people who look like them, and I think it’s an important story to tell.”
Meir added, “What we’re doing now shows all the work that went in many years ago, and all of the women that worked to get us where we are today.”
1. What was the task of Koch and Meir?| A．Change a controller | B．Walk in space |
| C．Carry out an experiment | D．Watch the earth |
| A．It was a very adventurous task. |
| B．It was carried out by 227 astronauts. |
| C．It was all done by women astronauts. |
| D．It was watched by many young girls. |
| A．Women are still looked down upon. |
| B．Women should fight for equal rights. |
| C．Women can contribute as much as men. |
| D．Women have a better chance to succeed. |
3 . As the traditional Middle Autumn Day draws near, there are many moon cakes to choose from besides ham-pled cakes. Flower-pied, especially rose-pied moon cakes are preferred a lot by visitors to Yunnan. Baked with almost the same materials-flour, eggs, cooking oil, sugar, and honey etc, why do rose pastries (糕点) enjoy a high popularity?
The answer lies in the roses locally grown in Yunnan and used for making teas and cooking. The bushes can be found with ease in many parts of China, but Yunnan-which is known as “Kingdom of Plants” —— tops others in this respect. You might have noticed that 70 percent of fresh flowers traded in China have come from Yunnan province.
Among the dim sum —— like snacks of Yunnan, rose cakes can be a highlight. Cakes of this kind begin to be widely sold as early as April in stores, because farmers usually harvest the fresh rose crops for orders placed by food companies. You may also find dried roses sold all the year round in big stores.
In historical records, the flower-pied cakes were first prepared by a master chef in the Qing Dynasty about 300 years ago. Sweet, fragrant, and believed to be “good for improving women beauty”, these cakes were once widely sold in Kunming and even the north of China such as Tianjin.
However, not all the rose flower is used for making cakes. The petals (花瓣) of such roses, and only the petals, are valuable in this regard, and that is mainly why they (rose cakes) are a little pricier than others. There are also records saying that rose-pied cakes were paid to the Qing Dynasty’s Qian Long Emperor as a gift.
Personally, I prefer rose cakes than any others. As for ham cakes, I really don’t like the taste. If you try ham cakes, it tastes quite weird, salty and sweet.
1. Why are rose-pied moon cakes so popular?| A．They go well with tea. |
| B．They are made with flour. |
| C．They can improve women beauty. |
| D．They are made with the best roses. |
| A．Rose cakes are the most expensive. |
| B．Rose cakes stand out from the others. |
| C．Rose cakes are ordered by many companies. |
| D．Rose cakes are best when served with dim sum. |
| A．They are prepared by master chefs. |
| B．They were bought by emperors as gifts. |
| C．They are widely sold home and abroad. |
| D．They are more expensive than other cakes. |
| A．Tell the history of moon cakes. |
| B．Introduce a special kind of moon cakes. |
| C．Encourage readers to buy flower moon cakes. |
| D．Compare traditional moon cakes with rose moon cakes. |
4 . Ways to fight the flu
The flu is annoying enough on its own. In order to keep yourself from it, follow these tips.
★Get the flu vaccine (疫苗). It’s the best way to protect yourself against the flu.
★Wash your hands often. Hand washing is an important way to protect against germs (细菌) like flu viruses.
★
★Cough or sneeze into a tissue (手巾纸) –not into your hands. That way, you’re not spreading the virus when you touch surfaces that other people may touch too.
★
You also can fight the flu by getting enough sleep, eating healthy foods, drinking plenty of water, and getting regular exercise.
Don’t let the flu ruin your fall and winter fun. Fight back!
| A．Stay home if you have the flu. |
| B．Rest can help the body recover faster. |
| C．Keep your distance if someone is sick. |
| D．Take some medicine as soon as you have the flu. |
| E．It also helps protect against other germs and illnesses. |
| F．Getting vaccinated doesn’t just protect your own health. |
| G．Don’t let the flu fall at one of the most exciting times of the year. |
5 . The next generation of robots will be able to see objects, will have a sense of touch, and will make critical decisions.
Engineering skilled and computer technology are developing artificial vision for robots. With the ability to “see”, robots can identify and inspect one specific class of objects out of a pile of different kinds of materials. One robot vision system uses of electronic digital cameras containing many rows of lights sensitive materials measure the intensity of light and convert the light rays into a range of numbers. The numbers are part of a gray-scale system in which brightness is measured in a range of values. One scale ranges from 0 to 15, and another from 0 to 255. The 0 is represented by black. The highest number is white. The numbers in between represent different shades of gray. The computer then makes the calculations and converts the numbers into a picture that shows an image of the object in question. It is not yet known whether robots will one day have vision as good as human vision. Technicians believe they will, but only after years of development.
Engineers working on other advances are designing and experimenting with new types of articulated (有关节的) metal hands and fingers, giving robots a sense of touch. Other engineers are writing new programs allowing robots to make decisions such as whether to abandon defective parts in finished products. To do this, the robot will also have to be capable of identifying those perfect and defective parts.
These future robots, assembled (装配，组合) with a sense of touch and the ability to see and make decisions, will have plenty of work to do. They can be used to prospect for minerals on the ocean floor or in deep areas of mines too dangerous for humans to enter.
They will work as gas station attendants, firefighters, house-keepers, and security personnel. The robot business will continue to grow also. Financial analysts believe this business will soar from a $ 100 million-industry at the start of the 1980s to a $5-billion industry by the early 2010s. Anyone wanting to understand the industry of the future will have to know about robots.
1. Why is it so important for robots to be able to “see”?| A．Because they can criticize human factory personnel. |
| B．Because they can make critical decisions. |
| C．Because they can work as human beings. |
| D．Because they have a strong desire. |
| A．Because robot-business will grow rapidly. |
| B．Because robots will be very useful. |
| C．Because robots will become very popular in industry. |
| D．For they can make a lot of money. |
| A．Having a noticeable or desire effect. |
| B．Unquestionable and undoubted. |
| C．Imperfect, having serious errors. |
| D．Not enough in quantity. |
| A．Future Robots Will Have Plenty of Work to Do. |
| B．Future Robots Will See, Touch, and Think. |
| C．Engineers Care Designing New Types of Robots. |
| D．Future Robots Will Have Visions as Good Human Vision. |
6 . Throughout my 41 years at General Electric, I’ve experienced a lot. In the media, I’ve gone from prince to pig and back again. And I’ve been called many things.
In the early days, some called me a crazy, wild man. When I became CEO two decades ago, Wall Street asked, “Jack who?”
When I tried to make GE more competitive by cutting back our workforce in the early 1980s, the media called me “Neutron Jack.” When they learned we were focused on values and culture at GE, people asked if “Jack has gone soft. ” I’ve been No. 1 or No. 2 Jack, Services Jack, Global Jack, and, in more recent years. Six Sigma Jack and e-Business Jack.
When we made an effort to acquire Honeywell in October 2000, and I agreed to stay on through the transition (过渡期), some thought of me as the Long-in-the-Tooth Jack hanging on by his fingertips to his CEO job.
Those characterizations said less about me and a lot more about the stage our company went through. Truth is, down deep, I’ve never really changed much from the boy my mother raised in Salem, Massachusetts.
When I started on this journey in 1981, standing before Wall Street analysts for the first time at New York’s Pierre Hotel, I said I wanted GE to become “the most competitive enterprise on earth.” My objective was to put a small-company spirit in a big-company body, to build an organization out of an old-line industrial company that would be more high-spirited, more adaptable, and more flexible than companies that are one-fiftieth our size. I said then that I wanted to create a company “where people dare to try new things, where people know that only the limits of their creativity and drive, their own standards of personal excellence, will be the ceiling on how far and how fast they move. ”
I’ve put my mind, my heart, and my courage into that journey every day of the 40-plus years I’ve been lucky enough to be a part of GE.
1. According to the first two paragraphs, the author ______.| A．had many ups and downs | B．had a poor image in public |
| C．became CEO of GE 41 years ago | D．suffered from some mental illnesses |
| A．his company’s different stages of development | B．the various opinions of different journalists |
| C．the change of his character with the time | D．his popularity among his friends and relatives |
| A．was a big company with a small-company’s spirit | B．was the most competitive company in the world |
| C．differed from many old-line industrial companies | D．should seek broader space for development |
| A．Seeking a higher position in GE | B．Travelling from home to office |
| C．Taking GE to a new height | D．Growing from a baby into an adult |
7 . Scientists have searched for many years for a method to tell whether a volcano(火山)explosion will be small or large. Now, four scientists say they have discovered something in lava(熔岩)that will help do this. They did the research on Mount Unzen on the southern Japanese island of Kyushu.
Mount Unzen exploded in November, 1990. Since then, more explosions have killed 43 people and destroyed the homes of more than 2,000 others. The volcano is still active today.
The scientists say the lava of the volcano contains high level of an element(成份)，which is a sign of the presence of the lava from deep in the earth, not from the surface. They say it shows that the lava coming directly from inside the earth is connected with huge explosions instead of smaller ones.
The scientists examined the lava from 18 explosions of Mount Unzen that took place during many thousands of years. They also studied the lava from other volcanoes in the area that are older than Mount Unzen. The lava studied came from both large and small explosions. The scientists found that large explosions contained more of the element than small ones. The scientists say if they had known this two years earlier, they could have warned the people living in the area near Mount Unzen and saved many lives.
1. Scientists have searched for a long time in order to ______.| A．tell whether a volcano explosion will be small or large |
| B．tell whether a volcano explosion will be worthy or not |
| C．tell the number of active volcanoes in the world |
| D．find if there is any volcano in Japan |
| A．an active volcano | B．a Japanese island |
| C．a huge volcano explosion | D．a kind of lava |
| A．It comes from the deepest part of the ocean. |
| B．It comes from the earth surface. |
| C．Not mentioned in the passage. |
| D．It is from deep part in the earth. |
| A．the place of a possible explosion |
| B．the degree of a volcano explosion |
| C．the number of volcano explosions |
| D．the time of a possible explosion |
8 . Twenty years ago, I was a school bus driver. Charlie, who was eight years old, became a rider. All the students had stories to tell me but Charlie ignored me.
From that day on, Charlie was a trial. If a fight broke out I didn’t have to turn my head to know who had started it. If a girl was crying, the chances were Charlie had pulled her hair. No matter how I spoke to him, he wouldn’t say a word. He’d just stare at me with his eyes.
Toward the end of that year, the kids on my bus gave me a small medal with the words “To the Best Bus Driver Ever ”. I put it up on the dashboard (仪表盘).
One day, when I got on the bus I realized that the medal was gone. One boy said, “Charlie was the first one on the bus. I bet he took it.” Other children also said, “Yeah! Charlie did it!” I asked Charlie, “Have you seen the medal?” “I don’t know what you are talking about,” he said. All the children shouted, “Check his pockets.” I asked Charlie to come forward. I stuck my hand into one of his pockets. I felt it. Charlie stared at me for a long time. I was about to pull the medal out of Charlie’s pocket when I stopped myself. “It must have fallen off before I got here,” I said to the kids. Without a word, Charlie returned to his seat. That summer Charlie moved away.
Some years later, when I was in a department store, someone called my name. It was Charlie. To my surprise, he hugged me. He pulled an old key chain which was actually the medal from his pocket and gave it to me. “You were the only one who didn’t give up on me. Thank you! You are so beautiful!” he said.
1. It can be known from the passage that Charlie was ______.| A．a trouble maker | B．an easy-going boy |
| C．proud of what he had done | D．an honest boy with few words |
| A．the small medal | B．the dashboard |
| C．an old key chain | D．Charlie’s pocket |
| A．He hated her and stared at her without a word. |
| B．He thought highly of her and was grateful to her. |
| C．He appreciated her but he was too shy to say it out. |
| D．He respected her because she was the best driver. |
| A．Brave and generous | B．Helpful and impatient |
| C．Caring and kind – hearted | D．Polite but dishonest |
Now there is an increasing number of inactive people, namely the “mouse potato”. A mouse potato is someone who sits in front of his or her computer all day and eats junk food instead of regular meals. Why are we becoming potatoes and what can we do to avoid it?
One reason behind it is our modern way of life. We don’t have as much time to prepare and eat food as we used to.
If we want to be healthy, we should make good choices about what we eat. It is not necessary to become a vegetarian, but we must make sure that our diet is varied and balanced. A healthy diet should give us the calories we need but not contain too much fat and sugar. The number of calories our body needs depends on what our body type is, how much we weigh and how active we are.
Teenagers need about 2,500 calories a day.
Junk food has a lot of calories but few nutrients, vitamins and minerals, Some food does have nutrients, for example pizza, but because it contains too many calories, it is still called junk food. A healthy diet should include a variety of food, most of which should be rich in nutrients.
If we make the right choices about what we eat, we will be healthier and have more energy to enjoy the good things in life.
| A．Choosing what to eat is no longer as easy as it once was. |
| B．That does not mean that we are never allowed to eat junk food. |
| C．A balanced diet combined with exercise is the recipe for a healthy life. |
| D．Girls usually need a bit less and people who play sports may need more. |
| E．A large breakfast, one containing about 700 calories, will help lose weight. |
| F．Fast food restaurants are everywhere and supermarket shelves are filled with ready-made pre-prepared dishes. |
| Dear headmaster, As president of Sullivan Junior High School’s student council, I have been chosen to write to you on behalf of the eighth grade class. We would like to propose an eighth grade promotion trip to Sea World in San Diego, California. We chose Sea World for several reasons. In science class, we have been studying oceans and the marine life. Going to Sea World would provide us with the opportunity to visit these creatures and to better understand their habitats. This could be a once in a lifetime experience for those of us who have never been outside Arizona. We will have lots of fun and learn at the same time. The close location of San Diego was also a factor in planning this trip. San Diego can be reached by bus in about six hours. If the buses leave Sullivan after school on Friday afternoon, we should arrive in California in time to have a late dinner and get settled into our hotel rooms before midnight. |
You may be asking yourself. “How will this trip be financed?” We are suggesting that the school host an “Oceans of Fun” night for family, friends, and community members for a small fee. The activities would be organized and supervised by eighth grade students. Some of our ideas for the night include a Surfer’s Snack Shop with homemade treats for sale, Pirate Pete’s Treasure hunt, and a short production of “A Whale of a Tale.” This would the best chance to show our ocean animal reports. Many of the eighth grade students have gone to school together since kindergarten. We believe that this trip would be a fantastic way to celebrate friendships. This trip may also be one of the last times we see our friends because students from Sullivan Junior High School attend four different high schools. We invite you to our next student council meeting on December 7, 2013, to discuss your thoughts and work out any concerns you still may have. Thank you for taking the time to consider our request for an eighth-grade promotion trip. Sincerely, Julie Martino |
1. Who has written this letter? What is she?
2. What idea has the author mainly expressed in Paragraph 4?
3. Why has the author written this letter?
4. Why does the author mention that many students have gone to school together since kindergarten in Paragraph 5?
