A dense wave of smog began in the Chinese city of Harbin and the surrounding Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning Provinces on 20 October 2013. Unseasonably warm temperatures with very little wind across northeastern China coincided with the smoke from local farmers’ burning straws and the start-up of Harbin’s coal-powered central heating system.
Record densities of fine particulates(微粒)were measured in the city. In Harbin, the levels of PM2.5 (particulate matter) rise to 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter, worse than Beijing’s historic highs. Visibility was reduced to below 50m in parts of Harbin, and below 500m in most of the neighbouring Jilin Province. On Fa Yuen Street in Harbin, visibility of less than 5m was reported. The smog reduced after October 23, 2013 and completely broke up on October 28, 2013 by the first local snow and icy rain due to a cold front moving in from Russia.
Harbin lies in the north of China where winter temperatures can drop to -40℃, demanding a six-month heating season. Daily particulate levels of more than 40 times the World Health Organization recommended maximum level were reported in parts of Harbin. The smog remained till 23 October, when almost all monitoring stations in Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning Provinces reported readings above 200μg/m³forPM2.5. PM2.5 is the amount of particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter in the air, with the WHO recommending a maximum 24-hour mean (平均值) of 25 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³). On the morning of 25 October, PM2.5 measurements in Harbin had fallen to an average of 123μg/m³.
All highways in the surrounding Heilongjiang Province were closed. In Harbin, all primary and middle schools were closed for three days and authorities stopped flights at the airports. Hospitals reported a 23 percent increase in admissions for breathing problems. However, this smog will have no influence on Harbin Ice Festival events later in December 2013.
Air pollution in Chinese cities is of increasing concern to China’s leadership. Particulates in the air can affect human health and also have influences on climate and rainfall. Pollution from the burning of coal has reduced life expectancy by 5.5 years in the north of China, as a result of heart and lung diseases.
1.One cause of the heavy smog in the northeastern Chinese cities may be _____.
A. the lasting cold weather
B. farmers’ burning of forests
C. too much strong wind
D. the start-up of heating system
2.One serious influence of the heavy smog was that_____.
A. Harbin Ice Festival would be cancelled
B. highways in Heilongjiang were free of charge
C. all flights at the airport were cancelled
D. doctors in hospitals were kept from working
3.The harmful smog was most serious on ______.
A. October 20 B. October 23 C. October 25 D. October 28
4.What measure might be practical to reduce the happening of heavy smog?
A. Forbidding people to own their private cars.
B. Advocating people having one meal a day.
C. Using natural gas to cook instead of coal.
D. Encouraging family’s coal-fired heating.
Canadian short story writer Alice Munro won the Nobel Prize for Literature. Eighty-two-year-old Munro is only the 13th woman to win the 112-year-old prize.
Munro didn’t publish her first collection of short stories until she was 37 years old, but her stories have always been well-received. Lots of her stories share similar themes and characters, but each story has its own twists and turns.
Even though she’s won Canada’s most famous literary award, the Giller Prize, twice, winning the Nobel Prize for Literature is the cherry on top of Munro’s career. “It brings this incredible recognition, both of her and her career, and of the dedication to the short story,” said one person.
Along with the well-respected title comes 1.3 million dollars. Munro said everything was “so surprising and wonderful” and that she was “dazed by all the attention and affection that has been coming my way.”
Munro knew she was in the running——she was named the second-most likely person to win this year’s prize, after Haruki Murakami (村上春树）of Japan——but she never thought that she would win.
Munro’s win also represents the long way Canadian writers have come. “When I began writing there was a very small community of Canadian writers and little attention was paid by the world. Now Canadian writers are read, admired and respected around the globe,” Munro said on Thursday.
She is technically not the first Canadian to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but many like to think that she is. In 1976 Saul Bellow, who was born in Quebec but moved to Chicago when he was still a child, won the prize. Even though he was born in Canada, he is mostly considered to be an American writer.
“This is a win for us all. Canadians, by our very nature, are not very nationalistic,” said Geoffrey Taylor. “But things like this suddenly make you want to find a flag.”
She wasn’t sure if she would keep writing if she won the prize, saying that it would be “nice to go out with a bang. But this may change my mind.”
1.What is the feature of Munro’s stories?
A. They have their own complicated (复杂的)contents.
B. They have similar story backgrounds.
C. They have specific themes for children.
D. They have the same characters in each book.
2.For Munro, the Nobel Prize is an award for______.
A. her love for Canadian culture
B. her devotion to the short story
C. her special form of writing
D. her career of editing short stories
3.What is implied in the sixth paragraph?
A. Canadian writers paid little attention to the prize.
B. Canadian writers are just a small community.
C. Canadian writers have long been ignored.
D. Canadians have a long way to win the prize.
4.What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. How Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize
B. An introduction to the Nobel Prize in Literature
C. Alice Munro wins the Nobel Prize in Literature
D. A world famous writer, Alice Munro
假如你是红星中学学生会主席李明，根据学校安排，你给即将到你校任教的外籍教师Jack推荐一名学生助手（assistant）。请根据所给提示给Jack写封推荐信。
1. 欢迎Jack的到来；
2. 推荐刘佳做学生助手；
3. 刘佳的基本情况（18岁，高三学生，学校十佳学生）；
4. 刘佳的特点与特长（活泼、乐观；电脑技能；沟通能力；英语水平等）。
注意：词数：120~150；可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题。(请注意问题后的词数要求)
［1］Every year, lots of children die in traffic accidents, and many of these tragedies occur because child safety seats are not properly installed or are not used at all. As more and more families buy private cars, it’s time to _______________ the safety of children.
［2］Parents tend to let the child sit alone in the front passenger seat, or leave the child alone in the back of the car without any safety restraints, have the child held in an adult’s lap, or have the child use an adult’s safety belt. All of these can potentially add elements of danger for a child in a car.
［3］In the 1970s, Western countries began to research safety devices for children in cars. It was later found that special safety devices for children in cars will help to reduce injury by about 70 percent, and child safety seats play a key role in protecting children in case of traffic accidents.
［4］Since 1999, automakers have been required to put child restraint systems in cars in the United States. There are more than 25 million child safety seats in the United States, compared to only 600,000 in China. Today, more than 40 countries in the world have already issued relevant legal regulations, making it compulsory that children sit in safety seats. In Germany, the Netherlands and Japan, children under 12 years old are required to sit in child safety seats.
［5］China is a manufacturing base for child safety seats, but the market in China is still limited. As a result, while we export our products to other countries, our own children in China are rarely provided with safety seats for various reasons. We hope this situation will be improved.
1.What’s the main idea of Paragraph 2?(no more than 10 words)
2.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 1 with proper words. (no more than 5 words)
3.Explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5?
4.List at least 3 elements of danger for a child in a car.
1）
2）
3）
5.What does the author want to tell us by writing such an article? (no more than 12 words )
Televisions were among the most talked about items at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show last week in Las Vegas, Nevada. Some employed the most advanced technology ever.
Some of the TVs used a new technology called Organic Light Emitting Diodes, or OLED. They were thinner, lighter, offered better color and were brighter than traditional LEDs. Smart TVs this year were smarter. Many offered technology that let users have a more personalized experience. One such TV from the electronics company TCL uses sensors and voice recognition to determine who is watching. It then offers programming based on the specific user. Another TV from Panasonic offers a similar personalized user experience.
In addition to television technology, size also played a major part in CES 2013. Televisions varied in size from big to bigger, with at least two companies — Samsung and HiSense — exhibiting TVs measuring 110 inches.
The yearly Consumer Electronics Show is the biggest technology trade show in North America and one of the biggest in the world.
Gary Shapiro is president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association, the group that organizes CES. He gave one of the keynote speeches on opening day.
“Now you know that CES is more than a trade show. It’s a gathering of the brightest minds and the top leaders from many industries and those seeking a glimpse into the future.”
That glimpse into the future included a look at digital health and fitness devices, which were also big at CES 2013. There were devices that track your activity and others that measure blood pressure, heart rate and weight. There was even a fork that tells you when you are eating too fast.
Cars, smart-phones, tablet computers and PCs also made news. And a 27-inch table computer drew quite a bit of attention.
CEA President Gary Shapiro says there was much to see but not nearly enough time to see it all. “You cannot see the show in the four days that you have. We have over 3200 different industries showing over 20,000 new products. It’s absolutely incredible.”
1.At the 2013 CES, which item drew the most attention?
A. Cars. B. Smart-phones. C. Computers. D. Televisions.
2.From the text, we can know that the TV from Panasonic _________.
A. is bigger than the others B. uses the technology of OLED
C. offers a personalized experience D. can track your activity
3.What can we know from Gary Shapiro?
A. CES is only a big trade show.
B. CES offers a glimpse into the future.
C. CES lasts only four days in all.
D. He thinks little of the new products’ quality.
4.At the CES, the biggest TV in size might be from ______.
A. HiSense B. Panasonic C. TCL D. CEA
5.From the passage we can infer that__________.
A. the CES is held every 4 years
B. at the 2013 CES, the TV section was crowded
C. if you watch TV every day, you needn’t see a doctor
D. tablet computers drew more attention at the 2013 CES
He’s not just a pretty face! Famous actor Josh Duhamel leads a group of youngsters in a two-mile charity beach run. He may be an attractive movie star, but there’s more to Josh Duhamel than a pretty face. The 40-year-old actor led a youth charity fun run for the third year running on Sunday, in aid of the Red Cross giving a hand to countries and places suffering natural disasters.
Josh sported the charity’s T-shirt and black baseball cap with black jogging bottoms as he joined a group of youngsters in the two-mile effort on Santa Monica Beach. Josh was clearly enjoying himself today, sprinting across the finish line raising both arms in a victory salute.
In March last year and January of 2010, Josh led thousands of runners and raised over $200,000 for both Japanese and Haitian earthquake relief efforts. And donations collected at this year’s Youth Run will go towards the American Red Cross PrepareSoCal campaign which helps Southern Californians get ready for disasters.
“I do the youth run because I feel that younger people may not be able to donate a lot of money but that doesn’t mean that they can’t contribute and make a difference,” Josh told the Red Cross website. “Bringing students of L. A. together for these events not only raises a lot of money, but also raises the spirits of those affected by any disaster and helps everyone young and old.”
Duhamel had won the title of Male Model of the Year in an International Modeling and Talent Association competition in 1997. Duhamel began his acting career as an extra in the music videos for Donna Summer’s song, “I Will Go With You” in 1998. Later that year, he won the role of Leo Pres on the ABC soap opera “All My Children”. He then began appearing in films, and his acting in the film “Transformers” as well as its sequels was so successful that he became a pop film star.
1.Josh Duhamel led the beach run to help the Red Cross ________.
A. raise money for places suffering from disasters
B. raise money for people suffering from diseases
C. find more young volunteers especially teenagers
D. build up a fame of having the spirit of entertainment
2.How did Josh Duhamel feel about his joining in the beach run?
A. He felt it the best way to kill time especially on weekends.
B. He disliked it when there were reporters coming here.
C. He thought it a best chance to make himself famous.
D. He found it enjoyable and exciting to be a member.
3.What will the received donations of this year be used for?
A. Helping Japanese and Haitian defeat earthquakes.
B. Helping Southern Californians get ready for disasters.
C. Helping Northern Californians get ready for disasters.
D. Helping relieve Southern Californians defeat earthquakes.
4.What is the aim of the youth run of L. A.?
A. To persuade more young people to keep the earth green.
B. To make the young realize the influence of famous people.
C. To inspire those affected by disasters and give them a hand.
D. To raise as much money as possible to help the old and young.
5.What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A. The importance of the youth run started by the Red Cross.
B. The methods to join in the youth run led by Josh Duhamel.
C. The reason why Josh Duhamel leads the youth run.
D. The experiences and achievements of Josh Duhamel.
