1 . Charities
These days there are thousands of charities around the world and it is possible to donate money to help people, animals and places.
Mencap is a charity which is intended to fight against prejudice against those people who suffer from any kind of learning disability. Most of Mencap's work is campaigning. People with learning disabilities are disadvantaged because of prejudice and lack of funding for community care. Mencap raised awareness by working at local, national and European levels to deal with those issues that affect people with learning disabilities. It also provides services of education, housing and employment as well as support and advice for families and carers of sufferers.
EveryChild is a relatively new charity which was created in 1983. Every Child identifies the needs of a particular community and then sets up projects to make sure that children in these communities have basic rights such as healthcare. education, social services and community development. Every Child sets up the projects so that they are self running. The organization then moves on to new projects, leaving things in the hands of locals.
The RSPCA( Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) is the first organization meant for the well-being of animals anywhere in the world. The SPCA was set up in London in 1824 .At that time it was considered strange that people should care about cruelty to animals. In 1840 Queen Victoria gave the organization permission to be called a royal society The RSPCA. These days there are almost two hundred branches in the UK.
The TBG(Tidy Britain Group) is an independent national charity fighting to improve the quality of the local environment. They aim to get everyone involved in doing their bit to keep Britain clean. The work of the TBG is done mainly hrough campaigning. Volunteers work closely with governments and businesses to organize educational programs designed to raise awareness of the problems. The TBG's sister organization, Going for Green,concentrates on pollution issues. The two groups have the same chief executive.
1. What's the main purpose of Mencap?| A．To improve community care. | B．To provide educational services. |
| C．To fight against any kind of prejudice. | D．To help people with learning disabilities. |
| A．Approving. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Tolerant. | D．Casual. |
| A．Mencap. | B．Every Child |
| C．the RSPCA | D．the TBG |
2 . “It’s a big hammer to crack a nut.” This is how one angry parent described the recent crackdown (严厉的打击) by London police on parents who drop their kids off at school by car. Yes, you read that correctly—the very mode of transportation that many American schools insist is the only safe way to deliver kids to school is now considered illegal in the UK.
The decision to fine any vehicles seen dropping off or picking up kids within a particular zone of east London comes from city councillors’ (议员) long-term efforts to make the area safer and less crowded. They say they’ve been trying for years “to encourage reasonable parking”, but in vain. Neighborhood residents complain frequently about their driveways being blocked by illegally parked cars for 15 minutes or more，often while they’re trying to get to work, and the streets are long overcrowded.
Now the rules have changed. Some parents are angry. Angie is a mother who made the “big hammer” comment and says the crackdown is “way over the top.” The nearest drop-off point for her six- year-old is now a five-minute walk from the school. Others are happy with the decision, severe though it may seem. Councillor Jason Frost said ：
“Traffic has significantly reduced，and more children are now walking to school, which is a great outcome. I would rather have complaints that we are slightly inconveniencing parents than hear that a child had been seriously injured because nothing was done.”
I witness daily the chaos created by these in-town drivers, when I walk my own kids to school. There’s a parking lot crowded with vehicles and a slow-moving train of cars moving in circles, many filling the air with harmful smoke. Meanwhile, the conversations around overweight children and the importance of daily physical activities continue to stand out in schools.
1. Why is Angie Baillieul opposed to the new rule?| A．She is often fined by London police. |
| B．She will lose her job as a school driver. |
| C．She has adapted to the American practice. |
| D．She thinks it adds inconvenience to her kid. |
| A．People’s complaints. |
| B．Students’ health. |
| C．Students’ safety. |
| D．Parents’ inconvenience. |
| A．Less daily chaos. |
| B．Favor from all people. |
| C．More over-weight children. |
| D．Complaints from neighbors. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Uncaring. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Opposed. |
3 . Would you give your Social Security (安全) Number to the worker at the supermarket? Of course not, right? Yet, if you're like most people, you wouldn't hesitate to give out a different, but equally important number to the same person.
Experts now say that your cellphone number may be more pivotal than any other personal information in the eyes of spammers(垃圾邮件发送者) and identity thieves. In other words, you should guard that cellphone number with your life.
Today, your cellphone number will likely be with you for a very long time. That means if spammers get your cellphone number, it will be much harder to get rid of them. It also means that over the years, your cellphone number will be linked to a lot of personal information from contact lists to bank card numbers, all information that hackers would love to get their hands on.
A few years ago, German security researcher Karsten Nohl showed what he could get using only a person's cellphone number. Califomia Congressman(国会议员) Ted Lieu was given a new cellphone for a day and Nohl was given that cellphone number. Using just that number, Nohl was able to find Lieu's location and movements throughout Los Angeles, read his emails and text messages, and record phone calls between Lieu and his team. And Nohl did all of this from his office in Berlin using just a cellphone number.
Still think it's a good idea to post your number on the Internet?
When you sign up for an account(账户)online, you usually provide your email address and a password. But if you forget that password, many of these companies will send you a password retrieval code(检索码)to your cellphone. Let's say you post something for sale online and you include your name, email, and cellphone number. You've now given a potential(潜在的))thief everything he needs to hack into any of your online accounts. Therefore, it just makes sense to protect yourself by guarding that number as closely as you would guard any other personal information.
1. What does the underlined word "pivotal" in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?| A．Accessible | B．Familiar |
| C．Important | D．Manageable. |
| A．Why people should protect their cellphone numbers. |
| B．Why people seldom change their numbers. |
| C．How to protect our personal information. |
| D．How to get rid of spammers. |
| A．Nohl is a real expert in hacking. |
| B．It's necessary to fight against hackers. |
| C．Lieu's new cellphone has powerful functions. |
| D．It's easy to hack information through cellphone numbers. |
| A．It's a good idea to sell something online. |
| B．It's necessary to register several accounts online. |
| C．It's common for people to forget their passwords. |
| D．It's risky to post your cellphone number online. |
4 . Nineteen-year-old Beau Jessup is studying Social Anthropology at the London School of Economics. She started her own business
In a TED Talk in 2016, Jessup
Jessup
“The parents involve their family and friends in the final
Jessup at first provided the service for free, but after naming 162,000 babies, she
“Most of my customers are parents who
“The first time a parent sent me a photograph of their baby, a beautiful little girl ‘Ellen’, the mother
| A．until | B．when | C．so | D．that |
| A．parents | B．friends | C．relatives | D．colleagues |
| A．website | B．phone | C．college | D．magazine |
| A．learned | B．whispered | C．explained | D．added |
| A．announce | B．present | C．call | D．pick |
| A．imagination | B．description | C．direction | D．income |
| A．annoyed | B．defeated | C．delighted | D．worried |
| A．inspired | B．discouraged | C．commanded | D．advised |
| A．hear | B．see | C．help | D．feel |
| A．sold | B．collected | C．proved | D．built |
| A．likes | B．requires | C．hopes | D．represents |
| A．companies | B．names | C．destinations | D．patterns |
| A．related | B．invited | C．returned | D．compared |
| A．hobby | B．point | C．decision | D．practise |
| A．paid | B．charged | C．cost | D．provided |
| A．hope | B．find | C．confirm | D．complain |
| A．family | B．professional | C．additional | D．exact |
| A．other than | B．rather than | C．but also | D．even if |
| A．thanked | B．influenced | C．greeted | D．changed |
| A．answer | B．show | C．take | D．make |
注意：1.短文须包括所有要点；
2.词数100词左右，开头已给出，不计入词数。
参考词汇：WeChat study group微信学习群
| 赞成的理由 | 反对的理由 | 你的看法 |
| 1.获得新知识； 2.利用闲暇时间学习； | 1.学习群管理不善； 2.浪费时间； | 1.…… 2.…… |
Nowadays, WeChat study groups are more and more popular among people. However, different people hold different opinions.
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6 . Working or learning in a foreign country can be a difficult experience. The hardest part of working abroad isn't finding a place to stay or learning the language. It's learning to overcome the culture shock.
These things are part of everyday life, and include many signs, gestures, facial expressions ,and customs. When we enter a new culture, these cues (提示)are usually not present or so different that they’re no longer understandable to us.
“When a person enters a foreign culture, ” wrote Oberg, “all or most of these familiar cues are eliminated. He or she is like a fish out of water. No matter how broad-minded he or she may be, lots of props(支柱) have been knocked out from the environment.”
This is what happened to Lara, a young IT consultant (顾问) from America moved last year to their company in southern Europe. Three weeks after she arrived in Europe. Lara sent a desperate e-mail begging to return home. “The people are so unfriendly, ”Lara wrote ,"They eat at strange hours and I'm starting to get allergic (过敏的)to the local food. I can't get anything done because their way of doing business is so disorganized and so inefficient and I have a terrible skin itch because of the water. I want to come home! ”
What Lara and other IT consultants meet on their first assignment abroad is a culture shock. While you can’t prevent the culture shock from happening, you can take some measures to cut down its effects.
1. What is the most difficult part for a foreign student?| A．Entering a famous school. |
| B．Finding a right place to live. |
| C．Adapting to the local culture. |
| D．Learning the foreign language. |
| A．solved | B．measured |
| C．observed | D．removed. |
| A．Her life got into a mess. |
| B．She worked more efficient than at home. |
| C．She couldn’t get on well with her colleagues. |
| D．She was out of condition because of the weather |
| A．To tell us how she manages to work well. |
| B．To explain to us what the culture shock is. |
| C．To show us how to adapt to the culture shock. |
| D．To show us where we'll meet with the culture shock. |
7 . A family vacation has been saved thanks to a stranger who helped the
The Melrose family had been in the
Upon learning about their
Sims then drove his truck all the way to where the family was staying. They were all
| A．injured | B．gathered | C．disconnected | D．trapped |
| A．way | B．presence | C．back | D．middle |
| A．swiftly | B．consistently | C．abruptly | D．unconsciously |
| A．came | B．broke | C．fell | D．rolled |
| A．compared | B．matched | C．fastened | D．registered |
| A．compete | B．occur | C．appear | D．arrive |
| A．applying | B．waiting | C．training | D．looking |
| A．return | B．time | C．person | D．vain |
| A．Danvin | B．Australia | C．Gippsland | D．Sims |
| A．achieve | B．abandon | C．accomplish | D．obtain |
| A．journey | B．adventure | C．dilemma | D．response |
| A．website | B．announcement | C．database | D．post |
| A．neighbors | B．relatives | C．friends | D．readers |
| A．witnessing | B．assisting | C．accompanying | D．compensating |
| A．give back | B．make sense | C．burst out | D．lake over |
| A．refreshed | B．unbearable | C．scaried | D．disturbing |
| A．command | B．donate | C．rescue | D．approve |
| A．attracted | B．touched | C．ensured | D．embarrassed |
| A．brave | B．admirable | C．punctual | D．emotional |
| A．thankful | B．responsible | C．regretful | D．eager |
8 . Yi So-yeon, an engineer from Seoul, returned to Earth on Saturday after 11 days aboard the International Space Station(ISS)along with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and US astronaut Peggy Whitson.
A technical problem turned a routine(常规)return to Earth into a sharper than usual descent(下降)that tested the group members' energy and courage. They landed in the Kazakh steppes(大草原)about420km(260 miles)wide of their target.
''During the descent there was some kind of fire outside the Soyuz capsule because we were going through the atmosphere, '' Yi said.
''At first, I was afraid but the two other guys looked okay so I tried to look okay too. ''
Yi smiled and joked her way through a 10-minute news briefing at Star City the wooded Soviet era cosmonaut training centre on the edge of Moscow. However Malenchenko and Whitson looked tired and thin after nearly six months in space. Their answers were short and Whitson needed support to balance when she walked. The 29-year-old Yi has become famous in R.O. Korea since the take-off but she brushed this aside and said she has had little contact with friends or family since returning.
''In fact they are the heroes right now, '' Yi said referring to Malenchenko and Whitson. ''I'm just a beginner and a little ashamed to say that I am a hero. '' She did though relate a more light-hearted incident on the ISS.
''I sang Fly Me to the Moon'' Yi said about the 1950s pop song. ''It's my favourite song from university although at that time I didn’t know I would be an astronaut. ''
The capsule's so-called ''ballistic'' re-entering made the group members face twice the usual pull from the centre of the earth. The flames Yi described may have been caused by friction(摩擦)heating the capsule as it fell through the atmosphere.
Whitson told reporters that Saturday's, ballistic landing was irregular but not an emergency.
''The Soyuz has been through its history very reliable and there has obviously been some issue in the last couple of descents which went ballistic but I'm sure the engineers will determine what the problems are and get them fixed, '' she said.
In October a Soyuz capsule carrying Malaysia's first space tourist touched down about 200 km(125 miles)off course in a similar ballistic landing caused by a technical problem.
The Soyuz is the world’s longest-serving manned space capsule. An early version of the craft the Vostok carried the first person into space in 1961.
Whitson, 48, has become the American with the longest amount of time in space with 377 days.
1. What's the main idea of the passage?| A．Flight in space is very dangerous. |
| B．Not everybody can go into space. |
| C．Fearful landing tests the Korean astronaut |
| D．Yi didn't know she would be an astronaut when she was our young. |
| A．a fire was caused by the friction |
| B．she had no such experience before |
| C．she was not brave enough |
| D．the other two didn't help her |
| A．Yi So-yeon, a space tourist came from R.O. Korea |
| B．Whitson became energetic when they landed on earth |
| C．the two other guys were not afraid during the descent |
| D．the Soyuz, an unmanned space capsule, had a long history |
| A．experience is very important for astronauts to ensure safety |
| B．Yi So-yeon will never return to the space station |
| C．people are not willing to experience the space flight |
| D．we should draw a lesson from the accident |
9 . At this selection of five museums, more French will be heard and visitors might feel a sense of satisfaction when knowing they have arrived at a place that native Parisians also enjoy when going on a trip.
Museum of Natural History
Being a must-see place in the museum at present, the Grand Gallery of Evolution dates back to the 1880s. Playing as a zoology building in the past, it reopened to the public in 1994. The entire museum exhibits more than 9,000 preserved(保存）animals and insects.
Museum of Music
The museums collection covers centuries of European classical music and instruments, with decorated pianos and hundreds of horns and string instruments. Live performances take place in the galleries of the museum every day. The museum provides two versions (版本）of its English-language audio (声音的）guide, one for children and the other for adults.
Fairground Art Museum
At this museum, guides describe the history of Europe’s traveling fairs and explain signs (符号）that identify the beginning of the country with a carousel horse (旋转木马）.Book your tickets ahead of time on the museum’s website. Tours in French are offered several days a week all year round，and English -language tours are offered in the summer months.
Museum of Arts and Crafts
It was founded during the French Revolution to show its advanced (先进的）science and technologies and has since received several updates (更新）.Early planes，including the first to cross the English Channel, hang from the ceiling of one building. The collection has different exhibitions, with ancient cars, early engines and elements (元素)used in the building of the Statue of Liberty.
1. What do we know about the Grand Gallery of Evolution?| A．It was once closed to the public. |
| B．It was first built 25 years ago. |
| C．It studies all kinds of wildlife in nature. |
| D．It shows several thousand kinds of animals. |
| A．Choose a proper guide for your travel. |
| B．Learn some French before your travel. |
| C．Know the history of France ahead of time. |
| D．Book tickets beforehand at proper time. |
| A．It keeps many old collections. |
| B．It still keeps its original look. |
| C．It's a museum about art and culture. |
| D．It only provides French-speaking guides. |
10 . How much television do you watch? Did you really give an honest answer? A recent study shows that people aren’t totally truthful about their television-watching habits.
The study in question was conducted at Ball State University in the US. Researchers there wanted to find out how much television people view according to their age. The study was paid for by a council associated with the Nielsen Company, which determines television ratings. The conclusions were that people spend more than 8 hours a day looking at a screen. This included cell phones and computers，but the majority were television screens.
There are three interesting things about this study. The first is that people are exposed to more than one hour of advertisements per day. The second is that even with access to DVDs and internet videos, television is still the most popular media source. The third is that the amount of screen-watching people do is relatively the same from the ages of 18-65.
So, if everyone is watching television, why lie about it? Well, if someone admits they watch television for five or six hours, they could be considered a couch potato. Michael Phillips, one of the study’s main researchers, says, “There’s a social stigma for people who watch too much television. Sometimes, however, watching the latest reality show or the funniest sitcom gives co-workers and friends fun things to talk about.”
Even if you do watch a lot of television, perhaps we can use this study as a reason to be honest with ourselves about how much time we spend in front of the television. I mean, after all, everyone else is doing it...
1. Why do people lie about how much TV they watch?| A．Because the show they watched is not the latest. |
| B．Because they may be laughed at by co-workers or friends. |
| C．Because they don’t want others to know what they watched. |
| D．Because there’s something negative attached to watching too much TV. |
| A．The most popular media source is the internet. |
| B．18-year-olds watch more TV than someone in their 60s. |
| C．People are exposed to over than an hour of advertisements a day. |
| D．Researchers say that people watch over 8 eight hours of television a week. |
| A．comfortable | B．ashamed |
| C．excited | D．satisfied |
| A．What the effects of watching TV are. |
| B．How much television we should watch every day. |
| C．There are some interesting facts of watching TV. |
| D．People lie about how much television they watch. |
