1 . ROME— four people, including the wife of the factory's owner, died on Wednesday after explosions （爆炸）at the Barcelona Pozzo di Gotto fireworks company, Italian media reported.
According to online reports by La Republic and TGCOM24, at least one other person is missing and three others are seriously injured, with two of them in dangerous condition. Among the dead was 71-year-old Venera Mazzeo, the wife of the factory owner Vito Costa. Mazzeo reportedly died on the scene. Antonio Costa, the owner's son, was seriously injured and was transported to a hospital in the regional capital of Palermo for treatment. Less seriously injured persons were moved to the nearby Milazzo Hospital to be treated for burns and other injuries. Many were transported by local people who reached the scene before ambulances could arrive, reports said.
The factory, located near the northeast of the southern Italian island of Sicily, near the city of Messina, has been in operation for more than ten years without any accident. Police reports showed that two separate explosions took place, with the first explosion likely causing the second one. Media reports said that police have guessed that sparks （火花）from a repairing project reached some of the explosive material stored in the factory and was likely the cause of the first explosion.
Reports also showed that firefighters were able to control the flame, which burnt buildings on the factory and threatened nearby structures.
1. How many people lost their lives in the accident except Venera Mazzeo?| A．Three. | B．Four. |
| C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．One worker's cigarette spark. |
| B．A fire nearby the factory. |
| C．The explosive material in the factory. |
| D．The sparks from a repairing project. |
| A．Antonio Costa died on the scene because of the flame. |
| B．Most injured persons were sent to hospital by ambulance. |
| C．The factory had been in safe operation before the explosions. |
| D．There were three explosions in total in the accident. |
| A．A travel guide. | B．A newspaper. |
| C．A magazine. | D．A science report. |
2 . A disastrous fire surrounded Notre Dame（巴黎圣母院）destroyed large parts of the Gothic architecture on Monday.
“Notre Dame is our history, our literature, part of our spirit, the place of all our great events, our wars, our liberations, the center of our lives” French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters in front of the still burning Paris landmark and promised to rebuild Notre Dame.
“Notre Dame is burning, and I know the sadness felt by so many fellow French people. But tonight, I’d like to speak of hope too, ”he said, announcing the launch of a fundraising campaign.
“Let’s be proud, because we built this cathedral（大教堂）more than 800 years ago, we’ve built it and, throughout the centuries, let it grow and improve it. So I gravely（严肃地）say tonight: we will rebuild it together. ” he added.
The disastrous fire engulfed（吞没）the upper reaches of Paris' towering Notre Dame Cathedral as it was undergoing renovations（翻新）.
Tourists and Parisians looked on horrified from the streets below. France’s Interior Ministry said firefighters might not be able to save the structure.
The fire collapsed the cathedrals’ spire（尖顶）and spread to one of its landmark towers “Everything is burning; nothing will remain from the frame,” Notre Dame spokesman Andre Finot told French media. The 12th-century cathedral is home to incalculable（不可计算的）works of art and is one of the world's most famous tourist attractions, due to Victor Hugo’s novel The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
The cause of the fire was not known, but French media quoted the Paris fire brigade（消防队）as saying the fire is “potentially linked” to a 6 million- euro（$6.88 million）renovation project on the church’s spire and its 250 tons of lead. Officials opened an investigation as Paris police said there were no reported deaths. Some 400 firefighters were battling the fire well into the night.
1. What’ the main point of Emmanuel Macron’s speech?| A．Notre Dame was the symbol of Paris in history. |
| B．It took more than 800 years to build Notre Dame. |
| C．He was desperate when he made the announcement. |
| D．The French government are going to rebuild Notre Dame. |
| A．Notre Dame Cathedral was burnt down entirely. |
| B．The structure was well saved by the firefighters. |
| C．People who were killed in the fire are some firefighters. |
| D．The fire was likely caused by a renovation project on the church’s spire. |
| A．The novel made the Notre Dame famous. |
| B．The cathedral is repeatedly mentioned in the novel. |
| C．The novel became a bestseller thanks to the cathedral. |
| D．The novel became more mysterious due to the cathedral. |
| A．Disappointed. | B．Humorous. |
| C．Objective. | D．Critical. |
3 . 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 |
4 . On Sunday, undersea explorer Tim Taylor and his team at the Lost 52 Project announced that they had located the long-lost submarine on June 5 about 1,427 feet underwater off Okinawa, Japan. Last year, researcher Yutaka Iwasaki found that the Navy had originally made an error in translating the Japanese war records that detailed where the Grayback had likely sunk. All this time, the Navy's historical records had listed an incorrect site for the submarine's location.
With the help of autonomous underwater vehicles, remotely operated vehicles and advanced imaging technology, the team discovered the Grayback about 100 miles from the area where it was originally thought to have gone down. The discovery was officially confirmed by the Navy, Robert S. Neyland, the head of the Naval History and Heritage.
On January 28, 1944, the Grayback set sail from Pearl Harbor for the East China Sea. About a month later, the submarine reported sinking two Japanese ships on February 19. Though the Grayback was scheduled to arrive in Midway on March 7, more than three weeks passed without sight of the submarine. And on March 30, 1944, the Grayback, one of the most successful submarines of World War II, was reported lost.
Gloria Hurney, whose uncle Raymond Parks died on the Grayback, said that she wasn't sure that the Grayback would ever be recovered. So when she first learned of the discovery, she felt a mixture of shock, disbelief, sadness. Eventually, though, those feelings turned into relief, comfort and peace. Hurney said in a statement to CNN. ''I believe it will allow recovery as relatives of crew members come together to share their stories. '' Neyland said in a statement, ''Each discovery of a sunken craft is an opportunity to remember and honor the service of our Sailors. ''
1. Why was the submarine NOT found before?| A．The Navy was wrong in changing records into Japanese . |
| B．The technology was not so advanced. |
| C．No information about the submarine was obtained. |
| D．There was no need to find it. |
| A．By accident. | B．By the Navy's hard-working. |
| C．By the families' determination. | D．By modern technology. |
| A．People's feeling about the discovery was complicated. |
| B．The Grayback would be recovered soon. |
| C．The Grayback was the most successful submarine of the World WarⅡ. |
| D．The Grayback was supposed to reach the destination on April 7. |
| A．Tim Taylor and his team announced a new discovery. |
| B．A World War Ⅱ submarine was discovered. |
| C．An opportunity to remember and honor the service of Sailors. |
| D．A mistake the Navy made in translating the Japanese war records. |
5 . Notre-Dame, the cathedral (大教堂) that serves as one of Paris’s most beloved monuments, is on fire. According to The New York Times, the fire began around 6: 30 p.m. local time, when tourists urgently rushed out of the building. While Andre Finot, a spokesman for the cathedral, told The Times, that the cause of the fire is still unknown and that no one has been hurt while damage to the building appears catastrophic(灾难性的).
CNN reports that over 400 firefighters have been sent to fight the fire, but that they may be unable to save the cathedral. Built in the 12th century, Notre-Dame houses several relics important to Catholics (天主教徒). NBC News reports that relics from Saint Genevieve and Saint Denis may been lost, together with a relic believed to be from Jesus Christ’s crown of thorns, but it states that authorities now believe that the cathedral has been saved from “total destruction”.
Notre-Dame is visited by a reported 30, 000 people a day and 13 million people per year. Its destruction represents a global cultural loss. “This is just horrible”, Mohamed Megdoul, 33, a film producer and witness to the fire told The Times, speaking through tears. “A thousand years of history is being wiped away. This belonged to the whole world, and now it’s disappearing.”
French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his sadness on Twitter. “Notre-Dame of Paris in flames,” reads an English translation of his statement. “Emotion for a whole nation. Thoughts for all Catholics and for all the French. Like all our countrymen, I’m sad together to see this part of us burn.” Other politicians, including Melanis Trump, London Mayor Sadiq Khan, U. K. Prime Minister Theresa May also shared their sadness on Twitter.
1. What do we know about Notre-Dame according to the passage?| A．It has been completely destroyed by the fire. |
| B．It’s a huge political loss to the world. |
| C．It’s only meaningful to Catholics. |
| D．The reason of the fire remained to be found out. |
| A．The history of France is destroyed because of the fire. |
| B．The loss the fire caused is huge. |
| C．The damage of Notre-Dame is being wiped off. |
| D．The cathedral has been saved from “total destruction”. |
| A．To report a disaster of Notre-Dame. |
| B．To express people’s sadness of the destruction. |
| C．To emphasize the value of Notre-Dame. |
| D．To show the concerns from the worldwide. |
6 . The sound that woke Damian Languell at 8:15 in the morning was so loud he assumed it came from inside his house in Wade, Maine. As he got up to investigate, he heard another sound, this one coming most definitely from outside. Looking out of his bedroom window, he noticed a tree enveloped in smoke about 500 yards away. A car wrapped around the tree's base, its engine on fire.
Grabbing buckets of water, he and his wife ran to the crash site. Up close, the accident looked worse. The car was split nearly in two, and the tree was where the driver's seat ought to have been, as if planted there. No one should have survived this crash, and yet there was 20- year-old Quintin Thompson, his terrified face pressed against the driver's side window, in visible pain.
Languell tried putting out the fire with his buckets of water but failed. When the flames got into the front seats, he knew he had to get the young man out. So Languell opened the car's back door and climbed in. Using a pocket knife he'd brought with him, he cut through Thompson's seat belt. Now that Thompson was free, Languell pulled him out, and dragged him to safety before the entire car was in flames.
It is empathy that drove Languell to help, just as he said, "My heart goes out to Thompson. When you are that close to that level of hurt, you feel it so directly." For his heroic action, Languell was added to the list of real-life heroes changing the world.
1. Where was the first sound actually from?| A．A house on fire. | B．A car crash. |
| C．The bedroom window. | D．The basement. |
| A．He saved his car from fire. | B．He was successfully rescued. |
| C．He remained calm all the time. | D．He was capable of helping himself out. |
| A．Honesty. | B．Wisdom. | C．Sympathy. | D．Responsibility. |
| A．Daring and generous. | B．Caring and grateful. |
| C．Courageous and noble. | D．Ambitious and reliable. |
7 . One Sunday night, a high school student, Rory Campbell, heard noises next door to his home in Bonita Mews, off St Asaph Road, Brockley. When he went outside, he saw his neighbor climbing out of a front window of his second floor flat, which was on fire. He then saw the man covered in black soot(黑灰), shouting for help.
The 15-year-old boy called the fire service and tried to calm the neighbor, who is in his thirties, until firefighters arrived. Rory said, “He was shouting ‘Help me, help me! Get a ladder, get a ladder!’ He was a bit hysterical(歇斯底里的). I didn’t have time to think. I just tried to calm him by telling him the firefighters were on the way.”
Rory was told by the man that the fire had been caused by a candle falling over. Firefighters from New Cross, Peckham, Lewisham and Forest Hill rescued the man by ladder and got the fire under control within minutes of arriving. The man was taken to a south London hospital where he is still recovering from smoke inhalation(吸入).
25% of the flat was damaged by the fire.
Rory, studying music, added, “As the man walked past me, he said ‘Thanks’ and that meant a lot to me. I do feel good because I helped save his life.”
Another neighbor said, “I heard a lot of noise but thought it was coming from the railway opposite. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the man hanging there. The boy next door really did save his life by calling the firefighters.”
1. According to the passage, what caused the fire?| A．Rory’s smoking. |
| B．Careless cooking. |
| C．The gas fire. |
| D．A lighted candle. |
| A．He lighted the candle. |
| B．He calmed his neighbor. |
| C．He closed doors to stop the fire. |
| D．He held a ladder. |
| A．He was rescued by ladder. |
| B．The boy carried him out. |
| C．He was carried by a firefighter who got into the room. |
| D．He got out himself. |
| A．much of the flat was destroyed |
| B．Rory was sent to hospital for injuries |
| C．Rory studied music |
| D．Rory led an important part in saving the man’s life |
8 . A bull bison(野牛)in Yellowstone National park charged at a 9-year-old Florida girl. Luckily, the girl was left with only relatively minor injuries. Eyewitnesses say that a group of around 50 people—including the unidentified girl—were standing within 5 ~ 10 feet of the bison for at least 20 minutes near Observation Point Trail before the animal decided to charge. "We saw through the trees some people petting the bison, super close,” Hailey Dayton, 18, an eyewitness who filmed the incident. " Because it was agitated by all the people and noise, it just attacked.''
In Yellowstone, there are about 4 ,500 bison, the nation's largest and most important bison population on public land. Yellowstone is the only place in the lower 48 states where free-ranging bison have lived continuously since prehistoric times, according to a statement from the National Park Service (NPS). The Yellowstone population is also significant for being one of the few herds(群)in the country that has not been inter- bred(杂交)with cattle.
While they feed primarily on grass, they can be aggressive if annoyed. " Stay 25 yards away from all large animals—bison, bighorn sheep, deer etc. —and at least 100 yards away from bears and wolves," the statement read. " If need be, turn around and go the other way to avoid interacting with a wild animal in a close distance. ”
Despite the presence of seemingly more dangerous animals such as bears and wolves, bison have injured more people in Yellowstone than any other creature. "This is what happens when you make fun of wildlife and pay no mind to an animal's personal space,'' Dayton wrote in a tweet. " This family was petting the buffalo before it charged. And as you can see the parents saved themselves over their daughter. That really put me off. ”
1. What does the underlined word "agitated" probably mean?| A．Amused. | B．Released. |
| C．Comforted. | D．Disturbed. |
| A．The remaining population of bison. | B．What Yellowstone means to bison. |
| C．How bison survived the hardships. | D．Bison's living conditions in Yellowstone. |
| A．To warn people not to tease bison. | B．To inform readers of some large animals. |
| C．To persuade readers to protect the wildlife. | D．To urge people to give bison enough space. |
| A．Positive. | B．Pitiful. |
| C．Unfavorable. | D．Admirable. |
9 . It’s not often sunny in Paris, but people still love to walk along the bank of the Seine. They love the view of the city’s old buildings, especially Notre Dame Cathedral, with its iconic spire (标志性塔尖).
Unfortunately, that view has been forever changed. On April 16 a fire destroyed the spire of the 850-year-old wooden Notre Dame Cathedral built in 1163, and two-thirds of the roof.
The fire shocked and saddened Parisians. Citizens gathered around the giant church, singing hymns (赞美诗) and praying for the hundreds of firefighters who fought the flames.
“The importance of Notre Dame, not only to Catholics (天主教) but to all Parisians, cannot be underestimated (低估),” wrote French author Bernard-Henri Levy. “For many in France, it’s more than a house of worship. It’s a symbol of French culture, architecture and history.”
The church is also home to many religious artworks, paintings and sculptures. Luckily, its world-famous colored glass windows survived the fire. These windows are made of many small pieces of glass and feature various Christian images.
Despite its long history and many treasures, the Cathedral needed the help of a writer to become truly famous. Victor Hugo’s 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, presented the building to a wide audience of readers. The book’s ugly lead character, Quasimodo, serves as a symbol for Paris’ forgotten Gothic (哥特式的) architecture. Hugo wrote the book to remind people of it, with the hope that they would work to protect the beautiful old buildings of Paris
French President Emmanuel Macron has promised to reconstruct the historic building. “Note Dame is our history, our literature and it’s our imagery,” he said in a public speech following the fire.
1. Which of the following is true about Notre Dame Cathedral?| A．It is a representative architecture of France. |
| B．It is made of wood and metal. |
| C．It is a place for entertainment. |
| D．It will be rebuilt in a different style. |
| A．Its famous spire. |
| B．Its colored glass windows. |
| C．Victor Hugo’s novel. |
| D．Religious treasures inside. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Regretful. |
| C．Negative. | D．Optimistic. |
10 . A rocket problem that forces astronauts to evacuate (撤退) may appear to be a plot straight out of a Hollywood movie. However, that is exactly what happened to Russian astronaut Alexey Ovchinin and American astronaut Nick Hague.
The event happened shortly after the Soyuz rocket and its Soyuz MS-to space capsule (联盟号太空舱) carrying the astronauts took off from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan.
The takeoff went off smoothly, but just 119 seconds later, officials from Russia’s space agency informed NASA the booster (助推器) had failed to separate from the capsule.
It will take a few weeks for experts to determine what caused the problem of the usually reliable Soyuz rocket.
| A．To their sadness, this event became a nightmare for their future space journey. |
| B．The two scientists were on their way to carry out a six-month task at the International Space Station. |
| C．Surprisingly, the harrowing event has not stopped Hague’s and Ovchinin’s wish to go to space. |
| D．Thus, the astronauts didn’t head to the International Space Station. |
| E．And luckily, they became the main characters of the movie about space exploration. |
| F．Fortunately, the “movie” had a happy ending with both scientists returning to Earth safely. |
| G．Fortunately, Hgue and Ovchinin had been well-trained for such emergencies. |
