1 . Even though these monuments are extremely well known, they hold secrets that not many people are aware of.
Empire State Building
On the 103rd floor of the Empire State Building in New York, there is a secret observation deck that not a lot of people know about. To access the balcony, you have to take a series of elevators and then a very steep, narrow staircase. The observation deck isn’t open to the public, but many celebrities have been photographed there.
Eiffel Tower
There is a secret apartment and office at the very top of the Eiffel Tower that has just recently become open to the public. In 1889, Gustave Eiffel, the engineer of this famous Paris landmark, built himself a private apartment and office. It has been restored and has wax models of Gustave, his daughter, and American inventor Thomas Edison on display.
Statue of Liberty
There is actually a room in the torch of the Statue of Liberty that showcases breathtaking views of the city. People used to be able to visit that room until 1916 when German agents blew up a nearby wharf (码头). The explosion sent broken pieces into the raised arm of Lady Liberty, making the staircase up to the hidden room unsafe.
Disneyland
Hardcore Disney fans might think they know all of the secrets of the park, a famous U.S. landmark, but many haven’t heard of Club 33. This exclusive restaurant is hidden behind an unmarked door in Disneyland’s New Orleans Square. If you want to dine here on your next trip to Disneyland, don’t get your hopes up. It costs $25,000 to join the club, plus an annual fee of $12,000.
1. What do the monuments have in common?| A．They are all in Europe. |
| B．They all have skyscrapers. |
| C．They are all the best-known. |
| D．They all hide little-known secrets. |
| A．Disneyland. | B．Eiffel Tower. |
| C．Statue of Liberty. | D．Empire State Building. |
| A．Attractive. | B．Expensive. |
| C．Wonderful. | D．Beautiful. |
| A．Julie. | B．Lily. | C．Anna. |
3 . Most people who live in Seattle, Washington, love their city. There is a never-ending flow of fun things to do. But, people who live there do not always enjoy the day-after-day absence of sunshine during the winter months.
It is a documented fact that sunshine(or lack of it)plays a major role in how each of us greets the day. It also affects how we perform at school or work. When people are deprived of sunlight, they can develop seasonal affective disorder, which makes it difficult for them to feel happy or get things accomplished. No major city in the United States is more affected by the “sunshine factor” than Seattle.
To fight drizzle and fog during the winter months, Steve Murphy created a business that is very popular among the locals. The Indoor Sun Shoppe is more than a little ray of sunshine during the grey days of Seattle’s winter. His shop offers a huge source of plants and artificial lighting for people who are trying to overcome seasonal affective disorder.
Located in Fremont, Washington, The Indoor Sun Shoppe has an amazing collection of exotic(奇异的)plants and “good bugs” in a humid and well-lit environment. At The Indoor Sun Shoppe, you can spend up to $400 for artificial lighting that will chase away the winter blues. It will also keep your plants healthy. You can buy a dawn simulator(模拟器)that will gradually fill your room with a warming wake-up glow. What better way to greet a Seattle morning when real sunshine is nothing more than a happy thought!
Murphy’s in-home waterfalls are also popular with customers. But his plants and lights remain the “main course”. On a cloudy winter day, The Indoor Sun Shoppe is a bright spot in Seattle!
1. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?| A．Seattle is located in the state of Washington. |
| B．Citizens love Seattle for their colourful city lives. |
| C．Sunshine in Seattle is rare during the winter months. |
| D．People who live in Seattle are used to the sunshine absence. |
| A．Mild temperature and a general feeling of illness caused by grey winter. |
| B．Exhaustion, depression and lack of energy caused by lack of sunlight. |
| C．Winter-related illness caused by the low temperature and little sunlight. |
| D．Post-holiday depression that comes when relatives leave after Christmas. |
| A．attracts people from different parts of the whole country |
| B．aims to create a humid and well-lit environment during the winter months |
| C．brings only a little ray of sunshine during the grey days of Seattle’s winter |
| D．offers a variety of goods helping people overcome seasonal affective disorder |
| A．An alarm clock activated by the light rays of early morning. |
| B．A bringer of indoor artificial sunshine when there is none outside. |
| C．An automatic waterfall system helping make indoor plants healthy. |
| D．A better way to greet a Seattle morning with real warming sunshine. |
4 . 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. |
请根据以上要求，写一篇小短文。
注意：1.词数120左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
6 . The pumpkin (南瓜) theme is everywhere at Butler’s Orchard in Germantown, Maryland. It has thousands of pumpkins, including a pumpkin patch where people can pick their own pumpkin. There are also other things to do, like riding a pony, rushing down a slide or walking around a corn maze with its confusing winding pathways. Some children discover the big orange fruits way more than they think. Visitors can pick their own in season fruits, vegetables and flowers. Butler’s Orchard opened more than sixty years ago，as one of the first pick your own farms in the area.
Ken Merriam brought his children. He says Butler’s Orchard brings back good memories of growing up on a farm in Honduras. “It’s a little bit of what I used to have as a kid, so that’s why I think it’s nice to bring them over here. Get them out of the city.” Shirley Butler’s grandchildren who are in their 30s are now the third generation to run the farm. General manager Tyler Butler says children who usually only see pumpkins in grocery stores can learn how pumpkins are grown.
“I didn’t know pumpkins came from a vine. There are flowers on this vine. There are roots.” These little girls are earning about pumpkins during their first trip to a pumpkin patch to feel the nature and the fruits. For Tristan Piazza’s mother, the Fall Festival is an annual event. “My parents have always brought me. I bring my kid now. I hope he stays in the area and he can bring his kids.” Since family funds are hard to keep afloat these days, Tyler Butler appreciates the tens of thousands of visitors who come to the Fall Festival each year.
1. At Butler’s Orchard, visitors can experience ________.| A．picking vegetables in person | B．growing vegetables by themselves |
| C．tasting fruits off season | D．selling pumpkins online |
| A．They want to run it. | B．They want to grow vegetables. |
| C．It reminds him of his childhood. | D．It provides them with fun activities. |
| A．Guarantee. | B．Earn. | C．Expand. | D．Spend. |
| A．The Fall Festival is an annual event. |
| B．Pumpkins at Butler’s Orchard are organic. |
| C．Pick-your-own farms are increasingly popular. |
| D．Butler’s Orchard strengthens the bond of the family. |
内容包括：1. 生活环境；
2. 旅游业；
3. 投资环境。
注意：1. 词数80左右（邮件的开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数）；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
参考词汇：投资make an investment
Dear John,
Glad to tell you that many changes have taken place in Beijing in the past eight years.
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Best wishes to you.
Yours,
Li Hua
The Lake Poets were a small group of poets
9 . The garden city was largely the invention of Ebenezer Howard (1850-1928). After immigrating form England to the USA, and an unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where he saw the reconstruction of the city after the disastrous fire of 1871. In those days, it was nicknamed “the Garden City”, almost certainly the source of Howard’s name for his later building plan of towns. Returning to London, Howard developed his design in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on ideas that were popular at the time, but creating a unique combination of designs.
The nineteenth-century poor city was in many ways a terrible place, dirty and crowded; but it offered economic and social opportunities. At the same time, the British countryside was in fact equally unattractive: though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural depression(萧条) and it offered neither enough work and wages, nor much social life. Howard’s idea was to combine the best of town and country in a new kind of settlement, the garden city. Howard’s idea was that a group of people should set up a company, borrowing money to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside; far enough from existing cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price.
Garden cities would provide a central public open space, radial avenues and connecting industries. They would be surrounded by a much larger area of green belt, also owned by the company, containing not merely farms but also some industrial institutions. As more and more people moved in, the garden city would reach its planned limit-Howard suggested 32,000 people; then, another would be started a short distance away. Thus, over time, there would develop a vast planned house collection, extending almost without limit; within it, each garden city would offer a wide rang of jobs and services, but each would also be connected to the others by a rapid transportation system, thus giving all the economic and social opportunities of a big city.
1. How did Howard get the name for his building plan of garden cities?| A．Through his observation of the country life. |
| B．Through the combination of different ideas. |
| C．By taking other people’s advice. |
| D．By using the nickname of the reconstructed Chicago. |
| A．making use of | B．making comments on |
| C．giving an explanation of | D．giving a description of |
| A．as far as possible from existing cities |
| B．in the countryside where the land was cheap |
| C．in the countryside where agriculture was developed |
| D．near cities where employment opportunities already existed |
| A．Their number would continue to rise |
| B．Each one would continue to become larger |
| C．People would live and work in the same place |
| D．Each one would contain a certain type of business |
| A．City and Countryside | B．The Invention of the Garden City |
| C．A New City in Chicago | D．A Famous Garden City in England |
