A Leap（跳跃）to Honor. Leaping on a narrow balance beam（平衡木） is not easy. But Lola Walter, a 13-year-old gymnast, is an expert at it.

To perfect her skills, Lola ________  for four hours a day, five days a week. At the state championships in March, she finished seventh out of 16 girls.

That’s especially impressive, ________  she is legally blind, born with a rare condition that causes her eyes to shift constantly. She often sees double and can’t ______ how far away things are.

When she was little, her mom __________ that even though she couldn’t see ___________  , she was fearless. So her mom signed her up for gymnastics when she was three. She loved the _________  right away and gymnastics became her favorite.

Though learning gymnastics has been more __________  for her than for some of her tournaments, she has never quit. She doesn’t let her __________ stop her from doing anything that she wants to.

She likes the determination it takes to do the sport. Her biggest __________ is the balance beam. Because she has double vision, she often sees two beams. She must use her sense of touch to help her during her routine. Sometimes she even closes her eyes. “You have to ________ your mind that it’ll take you where you want to go,” says Lola.

To be a top-level gymnast, one must be brave. The beam is probably the most ___________ for anyone because it’s four inches wide. At the state competition, Lola didn’t fall ___________ the beam. In fact, she got an 8.1 out of 10---- her highest score yet.

Lola doesn’t want to be _____________  differently from the other girls on her team. At the competitions, the judges don’t know about her vision ____________. She doesn’t tell them, because she doesn’t think they need to know. Her mom is amazed by her __________ attitude.

Lola never thinks about ____________. She is presently at level 7 while the highest is level 10 in gymnastics. Her  __________ is to reach level 9. She says she wants to be a gymnastics coach to pass down what she’s learned to other kids _____________ she grew up.

Lola is __________ of all her hard work and success. She says it’s helped her overcome problems in her life outside gymnastics, too. Her _________ for others is “just believe yourself”.

1.A. work at    B. work on    C. work out    D. work off

2.A. since    B. unless    C. after    D. though

3.A. tell    B. guess    C. assume    D. predict

4.A. suspected    B. remembered    C. imagined    D. noticed

5.A. deeply    B. well    C. ahead    D. closely

6.A. task    B. sport    C. event    D. show

7.A. boring    B. enjoyable    C. difficult    D. unsatisfactory

8.A. talent    B. quality    C. nature    D. condition

9.A. doubt    B. advantage    C. challenge    D. program

10.A. examine    B. express    C. open    D. trust

11.A. fearful    B. harmful    C. unfair    D. inconvenient

12.A. to    B. on    C. off    D. against

13.A. greeted    B. treated    C. served    D. paid

14.A. pains    B. stresses    C. injuries    D. problems

15.A. positive    B. friendly    C. flexible    D. caution

16.A. defending    B. quitting    C. winning    D. bargaining

17.A. standard    B. range    C. view    D. goal

18.A. until    B. as    C. when    D. before

19.A. proud    B. tired    C. ashamed    D. confident

20.A. plan    B. advice    C. reward    D. responsibility

Main Types of Water Pollution

When we think of Earth’s water resources, we think of huge oceans, lakes, and rivers. 1. The most obvious type of water pollution affects surface water. For example, a spill from an oil tanker creates an oil layer that can affect a vast area of an ocean.

2. A great deal of water is held in underground rock structures known as aquifers(含水层). Water stored underground in aquifers is known as groundwater. Aquifers feed our rivers and supply much of our drinking water. They can also become polluted, for example, when weedkillers used in people’s gardens drain into the ground.

Surface water and groundwater are the two types of water resources that pollution affects. 3. If pollution comes from a single location, such as a pipe attached to a factory, it is known as point source pollution. 4. A great deal of water pollution happens not from one single source but from many different sources. This is called nonpoint source pollution.

Sometimes pollution that enters the environment in one place has an effect hundreds or even thousands of miles away. 5. One example is the way radioactive waste travels through the oceans from unclear reprocessing plants in England and France to nearby countries such as Ireland and Norway.

A. Besides, we think of bottled water.

B. This is known as transboundary (跨界的) pollution.

C. Not all of Earth’s water sits on its surface, however.

D. Water resources like these are called surface water.

E. There are also two different ways in which pollution can occur.

F. Pouring oil from your car down a drain can lead to water pollution.

G. Another example of point source pollution is an oil spill from a tanker.

China became the first country to clone a monkey using non-reproductive cells, reducing the need to breed lab monkeys and paving the way for more accurate, effective and affordable animal tests for new drugs, scientists said on Thursday .

By December, the Institute of Neuroscience of the Chinese Academy of Sciences had created two clone macaques(猕猴) named”Zhong Zhong” and “Hua Hua” by nuclear transferring of somatic cells(体细胞)-any cell in the organism other than reproductive cells.

Tetra, a monkey born in 1999, is the world's first cloned monkey, but it was done by using a simpler method called embryo splitting(胚胎分割); but it could only generate four cloned offspring at a time and cannot be genetically changed to suit the experimental need.

Cloning a monkey using somatic cells has been a world-class challenge because it is a primate(灵长类) that shares its genetic makeup, and therefore all of its complexity, with humans.

For drug and other lab tests, scientists have to purchase monkeys from all over the world, which is costly and bad for the environment, and produces inaccurate results because each monkey might have different genes.

By cloning monkey using somatic cells, we can massively cultivate large numbers of genetically identical offspring in a short amount of time, and we can even change their genes to suit our needs. This can save time, cut down experiment costs, and produce more accurate results, leading to more effective medicine.

Sun Qiang, director of the non-human primate research facility at the institute, said most of the drug trials are currently done on lab mice. However, drugs that work on mice might not work or even have severe side effects on humans because the two species are so different

“Monkeys and humans are both primates, so they are much closely related and testing on monkeys is supposed to be as effective as testing on humans,”he said. This is especially useful in testing drugs for neural(神经的) diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, metabolic syndrome(代谢综合症) and immune system diseases, and tumors, he added.

“This achievement will help China lead the world research in the international science projects related to neural mapping of primate brains, "he said. "However, bio labs from the United States, Japan, and European countries are also very capable, and they will quickly catch up with China after the monkey cloning technology is made public, "Sun added.

“This means we have to innovate continuously and work extra hard this year to stay ahead," he said.

1.Which of the following is the most important factor in cloning macaques named "Zhong Zhong" and "Hua Hua"?

A. Reproductive cells.    B. Somatic cells

C. Neural mapping.    D. Genetic makeup

2.Why is cloning monkeys so difficult?

A. Because it is bad for our environment.

B. Because each monkey might have different genes.

C. Because monkeys' genetic makeup is as complicated as humans.

D. Because it is too expensive to work on their genetic makeup.

3.What is the main idea of Paragraph 8?

A. The cure for neural diseases.

B. The process of cloning monkeys.

C. The significance of cloning monkeys.

D. The close relations between monkeys and humans.

4.What can we infer from this passage?

A. More effective medicine will be produced.

B. Drug trials on lab mice will be abandoned.

C. China is the first country to have cloned monkeys.

D. China will stay ahead of the world in cloning.

Thompson’s Children

As her son Cameron sits at his laptop completing a task for his math degree course. Alison Thompson, a full-time mum is busy helping her daughter Emma (two years younger than Cameron) get dressed. While help has always been available for Emma, Alison and her husband also have to fight to get Cameron the support he needs."People could see that Emma has special needs but because Cameron was doing so well at school, his teachers never thought there was a problem with him, “says Alison.

It took Alison and her husband a while to realize their son was different. Cameron's ability didn’t become clear until he began primary school. Once he even corrected the teacher when she told the class that zero was the lowest number. Cameron told her she was wrong because there were negative numbers(负数). He was four at the time. Now 14-year-old Cameron is at secondary school, studying for a distance learning math degree with the Open University, having sailed through his GCSE at 11 and his A-level at 12, achieving top grades.

Bethany, another daughter of Alison, is bright too but not gifted. She is the one who will remind absent-minded Cameron to put on his coat. She also helps him out in social situations.

Emma attends a specialist school and the family is quick to celebrate her successes too.

“The other day she did up the buttons on her coat, which was real progress,” Alison says.

Late last year the Thompsons took part in a television documentary(纪录片) to prove that not all gifted children are the result of extremely ambitious parents. Gifted children need support too, but their lives don't have to be that different. Cameron is an example

1.What does paragraph 1 indicate?

A. Cameron helps Emma with her math tasks.

B. Teachers at school ignored Emma's problems.

C. Both Cameron and Emma need parental support.

D. The couple often have fights because of Cameron.

2.There are at least__________ people in Mrs. Thompson’s family.

A. three    B. four

C. five    D. six

3.What can be known from the passage?

A. Emma has learned to take good care of herself.

B. Cameron showed his gift before primary school.

C. The children of the family are bright and gifted.

D. Gifted kids are not so different as people expect.

Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. Gwendolyn Brooks wrote hundreds of poems during her lifetime. She was known around the world for using poetry to increase understanding about black culture in America.

Her poems described conditions among the poor, racial inequality and drug use in the black community. She also wrote poems about the struggles of black women. But her skill was more than her ability to write about struggling black people. She was an expert at the language of poetry. She combined traditional European poetry styles with the African American experience.

In her early poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the South Side of Chicago. The South Side of Chicago is where many back people live. In her poems, the South Side is called Bronzeville. It was A Street in Bronzeville that gained the attention of literary experts in 1945. Critics praised her poetic skill and her powerful descriptions of the black experience during the time. The Bronzeville poems were her first published collection.

In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She won the prize for her second book of poems called Annie Allen. Annie Allen is a collection of poetry about the life of a Bronzeville girl as a daughter, a wife and mother. She experiences loneliness, loss, death and being poor. Ms. Brooks said that winning the prize changed her life.

Her next work was a novel written in 1953 called Maud Martha, Maud Martha received little notice when it was first published. But now it is considered an important work by some critics. Its main ideas about the difficult life of many women are popular among female writers today.

In some of her poems, Gwendolyn Brooks described how what people see in life is affected by who they are. One example is this poem, Corners on the Curing Sky.

By the end of the 1960s, Gwendolyn brooks's poetry expanded from the everyday experiences of people in Bronzeville. She wrote about a wider world and dealt with important political issues.

1.What does the text mainly talk about?

A. The life of Gwendolyn Brooks.    B. The poems of Gwendolyn Brooks

C. The understanding about black culture.    D. The struggles of black women.

2.What can we learn about Gwendolyn Brooks from the second paragraph?

A. She mainly wrote about the struggles of black women.

B. She was good at using the language of poetry

C. Her writing skills were a little worse than her ability.

D. Her poems were mainly about the African experience

3.The author develops the passage mainly by___________.

A. providing examples    B. using statistics

C. comparing opinions    D. describing her experiences

4.In the next part, the author would most probably talk about______.

A. the difficulties Gwendolyn Brooks would meet

B. the poems related to political issues

C. the awards Gwendolyn Brooks gained

D. the racial inequality the black had to face

The latest addition to the Gtech garden power tools is a lightweight but powerful wireless Leaf Blower(吹落叶机). This autumn it will make the time of clearing leaves and garden pieces very short.

High performance

The 36V Lithium-ion Gtech Leaf Blower has the ability to clear pieces from your lawn, courtyard and driveway. The Leaf Blower uses a turbofan(涡轮风扇发动机) design that allows for a straight air passage from intake to outlet, offering maximum airflow and efficiency that turn the fan at 11,500 times a minute.

Complete control

The Gtech Leaf Blower is lightweight, at just 4.3 kg. It has been designed so that the battery and product weight are reasonably distributed. When in use, it will naturally point towards the ground to direct the airflow. Therefore, you won’t have to worry about injuring your wrists, even if you use it for an entire 20-minute run-time with full power. The variable trigger(扳机) allows for complete control –when you squeeze or release the trigger you will feel the airflow change to suit your garden needs.

Easy to use

The Gtech Leaf Blower is easy to use. There is no need to pull wires or top it up with fuel, so simply attach the battery and pull the trigger to start. The product’s wireless convenience means there are no wires to trip you up or limit your access, and no petrol to store up or pour—simply charge it and it’s ready to go. When you’re done, you can remove the detachable nozzle(管口), so the Gtech Leaf Blower is compact enough to be stored in small places.

Don’t just take our word for it

We really do care what you think. Go online to see the thousands of independent reviews our customers have given us, and check out our product video at www.gtch.co.uk.

1.Which of the following is not the advantage of the new Gtech Leaf Blower?

A. A turbofan    B. No wire

C. The visible trigger    D. Costly delivery

2.What makes the new Gtech Leaf Blower easy to hold?

A. A straight air passage from intake to outlet.

B. Reasonable distribution of battery and product weight.

C. The variable trigger on the new Gtech Leaf Blower.

D. The removable nozzle on the new Gtech Leaf Blower.

3.What is the meaning of the underlined words “trip you up” in the text?

A. Tire you out    B. Get you to fall down

C. Make you unoccupied    D. Block you out

4.The purpose of this passage is _______________.

A. to advise us to buy the new Gtech Leaf Blower

B. to introduce to us the convenience of the new Gtech Leaf Blower

C. to teach us how to use the new Gtech Leaf Blower

D. to encourage us to review about the new Gtech Leaf Blower

假如你是一名英国学生Harry,有一位中国笔友Li Hua想了解一下你的家乡爱丁堡，请你根据提示回复一封电子邮件。

注意：开头部分已给出，不计入总词数。

爱丁堡：苏格兰的首府，政治和文化中心。

人口：133万。

面积：260平方公里 (square kilometers)。

地理位置：苏格兰 (Scotland) 的东南部。

交通：机场位于市中心，公共交通十分便利。

天气：气候温和 (mild climate)。

旅游：最受欢迎的旅游城市；古老建筑众多；每年吸引200多万名游客，是理想的度假胜地。

词数：110左右。

Dear Li Hua,

How are things with you? Today I’m writing to tell you something about Edinburgh which you asked about in the last e-mail.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

请根据语境用括号内单词的正确形式或根据汉语意思填空，每空一词。

1._____(以……为根据) an important decision more on emotion than on reason, you will regret it sooner or later.

2.He only wants freedom, justice, and _________ (平等).

3.The election results have still not been _________ (官方地) announced.

4.He will fight even more desperately if _________ (trap).

5.Trains are _________ (rely), cheap and best for long-distance journeys.

阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

China’s industrial output is expected to rise by around 6.5 percent this year, marking the best 1. (perform) since 2010, 2. the Made in China 2025 strategy (策略) helps to raise productivity and revenue (税收).

The increase is 0.5 percentage points 3. (high) than the targeted growth, partly 4. (drive) by strong efforts to increase the use of new technology at traditional enterprises (企业), Miao Wei said on Monday.

“The country’s industrial economy has maintained steady and sound growth thanks 5. the Made in China 2025 strategy. It promoted the combination of manufacturing and new technologies such as 6. Internet, big data and cloud computing,” Mina added.

The ministry also predicted that the country’s industrial output would be likely 7. (grow) by around 6 percent next year, with revenue from the telecommunications, Internet, and software and information technology service 8. (increase) by 50 percent, 30 percent and 13 percent, respectively.

According to Miao, the country will also publish policies 9. promoting the development of digital economy. The data show that the country’s digital economy added up to 22.58 trillion yuan last year, ranking second 10. (global) and accounting for around 30 percent of national GDP.

All of us in Monte Vista Christian School know we’ll one day have graduation photos for the yearbook taken. As the time ______, the girls start to have a ______ about what they’ll wear and where to take the photos, while the boys ______ hardly talk about it. As for me, I ______ for my photos to be taken by the sea.

When I arrived there, I met my photographer, Annie. She asked me to make some poses and I ______ her advice. After that, I asked if she could make me look ______ by taking photos in a different way, ______ I’m less than 1.6 meters tall. To my ______ she responded, “I will make no ______ to make you look like someone you’re not. You look good in your own way.” She ______ that she wouldn’t try to edit the photos either.

I was shocked by what she said. Girls always ______ to look perfect by using different visual angles. When you go to a photo studio, photographers always try to hide your ______ by telling you to stand in a certain way. And picture editors can easily ______ your look by making you appear any you want to. ______, that’s not the case here. Seeing I was ______. Annie explained: “Everyone has his uniqueness. You need to ______ your own beauty. You cannot live in a world of ______ photos.”

It was the first time that I had met a photographer who doesn’t ______ photos at all. After the shoot, I saw the photos — they are ______ special and natural. But what’s even more special are Annie’s ______, which will always stay in my heart.

1.A. flows    B. approaches    C. shrinks    D. develops

2.A. discussion    B. request    C. reason    D. complaint

3.A. by accident    B. in addition    C. by comparison    D. in advance

4.A. accounted    B. applied    C. searched    D. arranged

5.A. considered    B. declined    C. followed    D. consulted

6.A. taller    B. prettier    C. thinner    D. stronger

7.A. unless    B. though    C. since    D. while

8.A. delight    B. astonishment    C. relief    D. satisfaction

9.A. decision    B. choice    C. promise    D. attempt

10.A. added    B. swore    C. explained    D. admitted

11.A. pretend    B. manage    C. desire    D. pay

12.A. preferences    B. advantages    C. personalities    D. imperfections

13.A. expose    B. recover    C. change    D. recognize

14.A. However    B. Therefore    C. Otherwise    D. Anyway

15.A. annoyed    B. confused    C. discouraged    D. embarrassed

16.A. foster    B. admire    C. describe    D. advocate

17.A. vivid    B. colorful    C. artificial    D. popular

18.A. polish    B. organize    C. cut    D. exhibit

19.A. causally    B. roughly    C. partially    D. truly

20.A. attitudes    B. words    C. actions    D. skills