Death Valley, one of America’s great national parks, is a place of strange and silent beauty. As beautiful as this place is, its name provides evidence of very real danger. Death Valley is a land of beautiful yet dangerous extremes. There are mountains that reach more than 3,000 meters into the sky. There is a place called Badwater that is the lowest area of land in the Western Hemisphere. If there were water there, it would be 86 meters below the level of the ocean.
Death Valley can be dangerously cold during the winter months. Storms in the mountains can produce sudden flooding on the floor of the Valley. The air temperature during the summer has been as high as 57℃. The sun can heat the ground so that the temperature of the rocks and soil can be as high as 74℃. The extreme heat of Death Valley has killed people in the past. It will continue to kill those who do not honor this extreme climate. Death Valley does not forgive those who are not careful.
Death Valley is a good example of the violence of nature. It contains evidence of several ancient volcanoes that caused huge explosions. Evidence of one of these explosions is called Ubehebe Crater. The explosion left a huge hole in the ground almost a kilometer and a half wide.
In many areas of Death Valley it is easy to see where the ground has been pushed up violently by movement deep in the Earth. This movement has created unusual and beautiful rock formations. Some are red. Others are dark brown, gray, yellow or black. Other areas of rock look as if some huge creature violently broke and twisted the Earth to create unusual, sometimes frightening shapes.
In other parts of Death Valley there are lines in the rock that show clearly that this area was deep under an ocean for many thousands of years. Much of the Valley is flat and extremely dry. In fact, scientists believe it is the driest place in the United States.
Death Valley, part of the Great Mojave Desert, is a huge place. It extends more than 225 kilometers across the southern part of California, and across the border with Nevada.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The water in Badwater is 86 meters below the level of the ocean. |
| B．The highest air temperature in summer can reach as high as 74℃. |
| C．The ground has been pushed up violently by explosions of volcanoes. |
| D．There might have been marine lives living in Death Valley. |
Why were some people killed by Death Valley?
| A．Because they didn’t respect Death Valley and thus they were punished. |
| B．Because it is extremely hot in summer and dangerously cold in winter. |
| C．Because they were not careful enough to take with them what they needed. |
| D．Because several volcanoes erupted and caused huge explosions. |
The underlined word “twisted” in Paragraph 4 most possibly mean ______.
| A．bent and turned | B．created and developed |
| C．built and shaped | D．changed and ruined |
The purpose of the article is to _______.
| A．encourage people to visit Death Valley, a beautiful national park in America |
| B．warn people not to visit Death Valley because it is quite dangerous there |
| C．introduce to us readers a special national park in America, Death Valley |
| D．raise money for the protection of Death Valley because it is in danger now |
Oprah Winfrey, the American media queen, is undoubtedly one of the most successful women in the world. She’s the host and owner of The Oprah Winfrey Show, which continuingly wins high ratings, and the founder of Harpo Productions, which produces her television shows and movies.
Certainly Winfrey feels right these days. Early on, however, Winfrey seemed more like a candidate for welfare rolls than film roles. She stayed with her grandmother after birth and moved to Wisconsin to live with her mother at 6, and hence began the most difficult period in her life. They lived in the low-income community and her mother showed her less attention. Her classmates came from families with more money and she couldn’t participate with them in a lot of activities.
The young girl had held too much anger and pain inside and she rebelled. She repeatedly ran away from home and got into various troubles. During that time, she turned heavy smoker, became addicted to alcohol and drug and was sent to a juvenile detention home(青少年拘留所) at the age of 13.
Fed up, Oprah’s mother sent her to Tennessee to live with her father. To a large extent, this man saved Oprah’s life and helped pave the way for her success. She received a full scholarship to Tennessee State University where she majored in Speech and Performing Arts. After graduation, she landed a job as a news reader at a television station, where she did not do well at first. But she did not give up; instead, she worked harder. She put in long hours and prepared carefully before going on camera.
Her hard work paid off: she moved up swiftly to news reader and reporter in Baltimore and was offered her own talk show in 1977. From then on, her career began to take off.
Some people are handed money at birth and are nurtured into success; other people create their own success, and Oprah Winfrey definitely belongs to the latter. “There is no such thing as failure in my life,” she concluded, “Life is a marathon. I think the ones who survive in life do it by hammering at it one day at a time.” Well, by doing so, she won the game.By mentioning “Winfrey seemed more like a candidate for welfare rolls than film roles” in Paragraph 2, the author indicates that ______.
| A．she was interested in acting and applied for roles in many films, but failed. |
| B．she was more interested in working for charities than in films. |
| C．she lived a poor life and had to depend on the government for food. |
| D．the film companies wouldn’t offer her roles because she was too poor. |
Which of the following is NOT the cause of her bad behaviors as a teenager?
| A．Her mother had no time to take good care of her. |
| B．Her classmates’ families were very rich. |
| C．She couldn’t take part in activities with her classmates. |
| D．She had too much anger and pain inside. |
Oprah Winfrey succeeded at last chiefly due to _______.
| A．her hard childhood living with her grandmother. |
| B．her hard work and the spirit of not giving up. |
| C．her good performance in the juvenile detention home. |
| D．her major in Speech and Performing Arts in college. |
Which of the following can best serve as the title of this passage?
| A．Oprah Winfrey, from a problem girl to the American media queen. |
| B．Oprah Winfrey, from a news reader to a marathon winner. |
| C．Even famous people have a disgraceful past. |
| D．All that glitters is not gold. |
—Shall I pick you up after the meeting is over?
—Thank you. ________.
| A．If you insist | B．It’s up to you |
| C．It all depends | D．It couldn’t be better |
— Did you enjoy the film you saw last night?
—______. I just did it for a change, as I was tired from working all day.
| A．Not necessarily | B．Not exactly | C．Not likely | D．Not really |
Many people have come to realize that they should go on ____ balanced diet and live _____ healthy life.
| A．a; a | B．the; a | C．the; the | D．/;a |
----Do you think our basketball team played very well yesterday?
----- Yes! _________________.
| A．They were not nervous at all |
| B．They are still young |
| C．They played hardly |
| D．They couldn’t have played better |
Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage.
A wise teacher once told me that every teenager needs to experience a not-so-fun first job from working at a grocery store to the fast food industry.
Now I still remember my first day at a fast food restaurant three years ago. I wanted to save up money and buy my own car, so I applied everywhere I could that summer. The restaurant called me right away and I thought to myself, this is going to be easy. Within four hours of my first shift (.轮班)， I had angry customers who complained how slow I was. I watched in fear as a kid spilled his milk everywhere, and I heard the words that no 16-year-old boy or anyone for that matter wants to hear: "Mike, there's a problem in the men's bathroom and you might want gloves for this one." I realized right away that working at the restaurant was not going to be a picnic. The manager expected a clean environment and, particularly, fast service with a friendly smile.
Over three years later I still work at that restaurant whenever I go home during vacations. I love my co-workers there and all the customers know who I am. Every morning the same senior citizens come in and get their morning coffees. They chat with us workers and joke around. Our smiles have just as much to do with them making us a part of their everyday lives as the coffee does.
From my first job at the restaurant, I learned teamwork and devotion. I also learned staying positive no matter how rough things seem to get. I will forever carry the experience that I gained at the restaurant with me as I go forward in my life.Why did the author apply everywhere that summer?
(No more than 12 words) (2 marks)What did the manager particularly expect the workers to do?
(No more than 14 words) (3 marks)Why does the author still work at the restaurant during vacations?
(No more than 13 words) (2 marks)What did the author learn from his first job?
(No mom dm II words) (3 marks)
Harvard researchers have created a tough, low-cost, biodegradable (可生物降解的) material inspired by insects' hard outer shells. The material's inventors say it has a number of possible uses and someday could provide a more environmentally friendly alternative to plastic. The material, made from shrimp ('虾) shells and proteins produced from silk, is called "shrilk." It is thin, clear, flexible and strong.
A major benefit of the material is its biodegradability. Plastic's toughness and flexibility represented a revolution in materials science during the 1950s and '60s. Decades later, however, plastic's very durability (耐用性) is raising questions about how appropriate it is for one-time products such as plastic bags, or short-lived consumer goods, used in the home for a few years and then cast into a landfill where they will degrade for centuries. What is the point of making something that lasts 1,000 years?
Shrilk not only will degrade in a landfill, but its basic components are used as fertilizer(肥料), and so will enrich the soil.
Shrilk has great potential, the inventors said. Materials from which it is made are plentiful in nature, found in everything ranging from shrimp shells, insect bodies to living plants. That makes shrilk low cost, and its mass production possible should it be used for products demanding a lot of material.
Work on shrilk is continuing in the lab. The inventors said the material becomes flexible when wet, so they're exploring ways to use it in wet environments. They're also developing simpler production processes, which could be used for non-medical products, like for computer cases and other products inside the home. They're even exploring combining it with other materials, like carbon fibers, to give it new properties.Paragraph I of the passage is mainly about shritk's_____.
| A．remarkable design | B．interesting name |
| C．major features | D．basic elements |
What has become a concern about plastic?
| A．Using it properly. |
| B．Producing it cheaply. |
| C．Developing its properties quickly. |
| D．Evaluating its contributions fairly. |
According to the inventors, shrilk has great potential partly because_____.
| A．it can help plastic degrade |
| B．it can be found in living things |
| C．its mass production has been realized |
| D．its raw materials are abundant in mature |
What are the inventors doing in the lab?
| A．Replacing carbon fibers with shrilk. |
| B．Testing ahrilk's use in wet conditions. |
| C．Making shrilk out of used household goods. |
| D．Improving shrilk's flexibility for medical purposes. |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Recent Progress in Environmental Protection |
| B．Benefits of Insects in Scientific Research |
| C．The Harm of One-time Products |
| D．A Possible Alternative to Plastic |
Keeping in touch with our friends is an important part of friendship. This does not mean that ____ have to write or call our friends every day. It does mean, however, that we __
__ care enough about our friends to find out how they are doing from time to time.
People have different habits about keeping in touch with others. Some like to call their friends, sometimes many times ____ day. Others prefer to e-mail their friends. Still __
__ prefer writing letters so that they can include photos or interesting articles __
__ the envelopes along with their letters. Some even write postcards while they are on vacation __
__ send them to friends.
Every kind of communication is important. It is ____ important what kind of call we make or letter we send. __
__ is important is that we let others know we care about them.
-I remember you were a talented pianist at college. Can you play the piano for me?
- Sorry, Ithe piano for years.
| A． | don't play | B． | wasn't playing | C． | haven't played | D． | hadn't played |
请根据下面提示，写一篇短文。词数不少于50。
You are discussing the following picture with your English friend Jim. Now you are telling him how you understand the picture and what makes you think so.
Decision-making under Stress
A new review based on a research shows that acute stress affects the way the brain considers the advantages and disadvantages, causing it to focus on pleasure and ignore the possible negative (负面的) consequences of a decision.
The research suggests that stress may change the way people make choices in predictable ways.
“Stress affects how people learn,” says Professor Mara Mather. “People learn better about positive than negative outcomes under stress.”
For example, two recent studies looked at how people learned to connect images(影像) with either rewards or punishments. In one experiment, some of the participants were first stressed by having to give a speech and do difficult math problems in front of an audience; in the other, some were stressed by having to keep their hands in ice water. In both cases, the stressed participants remembered the rewarded material more accurately and the punished material less accurately than those who hadn’t gone through the stress.
This phenomenon is likely not surprising to anyone who has tried to resist eating cookies or smoking a cigarette while under stress –at those moments, only the pleasure associated with such activities comes to mind. But the findings further suggest that stress may bring about a double effect. Not only are rewarding experiences remembered better, but negative consequences are also less easily recalled.
The research also found that stress appears to affect decision-making differently in men and women. While both men and women tend to focus on rewards and less on consequences under stress, their responses to risk turn out to be different.
Men who had been stressed by the cold-water task tended to take more risks in the experiment while women responded in the opposite way. In stressful situations in which risk-taking can pay off big, men may tend to do better, when caution weighs more, however, women will win.
This tendency to slow down and become more cautious when decisions are risky might also help explain why women are less likely to become addicted than men: they may more often avoid making the risky choices that eventually harden into addiction.We can learn from the passage that people under pressure tend to ______.
| A．keep rewards better in their memory |
| B．recall consequences more effortlessly |
| C．make risky decisions more frequently |
| D．learn a subject more effectively |
According to the research, stress affects people most probably in their ______.
| A．ways of making choices | B．preference for pleasure |
| C．tolerance of punishments | D．responses to suggestions |
The research has proved that in a stressful situation, ______.
| A．women find it easier to fall into certain habits |
| B．men have a greater tendency to slow down |
| C．women focus more on outcomes |
| D．men are more likely to take risks |
______ at the door before you enter my room, please.
| A．Knock | B．Knocking | C．Knocked | D．To knock |
阅读下面短文并回答问题
[1]Stamp collectors usually collect stamps only from certain countries or regions. The traditional method of stamp collecting is to organize stamp collection according to the issue dates.
[2]Of course, there are many ____________. You can collect stamps relating to a particular theme. For example, sport lovers may choose the Olympic theme. They try their best to find Olympic stamps issued by various parts of the world every four years. Some of them may want to concentrate on even more specific sport activities like ball games, gymnasium, swimming, etc.
[3]If you like astronomy, you may be keen on collecting stamps describing the stars, planets, spacecraft, spacemen, etc. once you have fixed the topic, you no longer need to bother about stamps other than the theme you selected. Then, you can put all your effort to collect the stamps around it.
[4]China issues zodiac animal stamps (十二生肖邮票) every year to celebrate the Lunar New Year. They are extremely popular and a lot of collectors wait patiently for 12 years to collect a full set of them. Hong Kong’s Lunar New Year special stamp series began in 2000 with the Year of Dragon and the twelfth and final set was issued in 2011, the Year of Rabbit. Recently some Western countries have issued zodiac animal stamps, which attract a lot of attention as well.
[5]You may choose any theme you like. However, you should bear in mind an essential point. The topic you choose should not be too narrow. Otherwise, it is very difficult to accumulate stamps around the topic. You will be depressed and even lose your interest in collecting stamps.
[6]Collecting stamps with themes is especially popular among teenagers because there is a wide range of choices for them. The main challenge is how you organize and expand your collection around your theme.What is the main idea of the passage? （no more than 5 words）
___________________________________________________________________________Fill in the blanks in Paragraph 2 with proper words． （no more than 5 words）
Of course, there are many ____________________________________________.What should you do if you want to collect a full set of zodiac animal stamps? （no more than 7 words）
_______________________________________________________________________________List the three general themes in collecting stamps mentioned in the passage． （3 words）
_______________________________________________________________________________What does the word "them" （Line2, Paragraph6） probably refer to? （1 word）
_______________________________________________________________________________
The party will be held in the garden, weather
| A． | permitting | B． | to permit |
| C． | permitted | D． | permit |
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