British singer Sarah Brightman began training for a 2015 flight to the International Space Station where she hopes to become the first professional musician to sing from space, the company arranging the trip said on Tuesday.
Brightman, a famed soprano (女高音) who starred in Andrew Lloyd Webber' s "Phantom of the Opera" , will pay about $ 52 million for a 10-day stay aboard the orbital outpost, Tom Shelley, president of privately owned Space Adventures, said.
Brightman, who will become the eighth privately funded space tourist, is scheduled to fly in September 2015. Her training to fly on a Russian Soyuz capsule began last fall.
Brightman has planned to be the first professional musician to sing from space. But she faces competition from Lady Gaga, who, according to media reports late last year, intends to be the first when she performs one song in space in early 2015 on a Virgin Galactic flight. Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, plans to offer suborbital(亚轨道的) space flights.
Brightman said in 2012 that she would travel to the space station, but her plans haven't been confirmed until now. So far. Space Adventures has arranged for nine private missions to the space station, a $ 100 billion research laboratory that flies about 260 miles above the earth. Microsoft co-founder Charles Simonyi made two trips.
Brightman will be the first private citizen to visit the station since Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lalibarte paid about $ 35 million for an 11-day stay in September 2009.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has an option to fly on the next available Soyuz seat after Brightman, which most likely will be in 2017, Shelley told Reuters.
1. What is the purpose of the passage?
A. To praise Brightman.
B. To persuade the readers that Brightman is more famous than Lady Gaga.
C. To instruct the readers how to begin a space flight.
D. To give some information about Brightman.
2. When did Brightman start training for her space travel?
A. Last winter. B. Last autumn.
C. Next spring. D. Next summer.
3. The underlined word "she" in Paragraph 4 refers to ____.
A. Brightman B. Lady Gaga
C. Andrew Lloyd Webber D. Tom Shelley
4. The fifth paragraph is mainly carried out ____.
A. in time order B. in space order
C. by giving examples D. by comparison
Considering Australia' s size and the fact that early settlements were far apart, Australian society is remarkably homogeneous ( 同种的). Its citizens are fundamentally prosperous and the way of life in the major cities and towns is much the same however many miles divide them. It takes a sharp ear to identify regional accents.
However, there is some difference in lifestyle between city settlers and the country people. Almost 90 percent of the population lives in the fast-paced cities along the coast and has little more than a passing familiarity with the desert. The major cities preserve images of colonial heritage, but the overall impression is modem, with new buildings reflecting the country' s youth. In contrast, the rural communities tend to be slow-moving and conservative. For many years, Australia was said to have "ridden on the sheep' s back" , a reference to wool being the country' s main money earner. However, it is no longer dominant ( 主宰的) . Much of Australia' s relatively sound economy is now achieved from natural coal and wheat, and by being the largest diamond producer in the world. Newer industries such as tourism and wine making are also increasingly important. Australians are generally friendly and relaxed, with a modest sense of humor.
Yet, contrary to widespread belief, very few Australians have true prisoner origins. Within only one generation of the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, Australia had become a nation of immigrants. Originally coming almost entirely from the British Isles, today one in three Australians comes from elsewhere. Australia' s liberal postwar immigration policies led to a flowing of survivors from war-torn Europe, most notably Greeks, Italians, Poles and Germans.
The emphasis has shifted in recent years and today the majority of new immigrants are from Southeast Asia. Today Australia is a "mixture of nations" and although some racism exists, it has generally been a successful experiment and the country is reasonably proud to have one of the most harmonious multicultural communities in the world.
1. What does the writer mean by saying "has little more than a passing familiarity with the desert" in the second paragraph?
A. The major population has a close relationship with the desert.
B. The fast-paced cities are just located by the desert.
C. The major population knows little about the desert.
D. The major population is familiar with the people living in the desert.
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The pace of life in the city is different from that in the country.
B. One third of people living in Australia come from Europe.
C. The Australian economy is dependent on sheep exports.
D. Most Australians have ancestors who were prisoners.
3. What used to be Australia' s main money earner?
A. Wheat. B. Wool. C. Tourism. D. Diamond.
4. We can infer from the passage that ____.
A. nothing about Australia' s colonial part in modem cities can be seen by visitors
B. tourism and wine making resulted in fast development in rural communities only
C. immigrants from Europe have brought racial problems
D. Australia' s recent immigration policy encourages immigrants from Southeast Asia
There was once a lonely girl who longed so much for love. One day while she was walking in the woods she found two starving songbirds. She took them home and put them in a small cage, caring them with love. Luckily, the birds grew strong little by little. Every morning they greeted her with a wonderful song. The girl felt great love for the birds.
One day the girl left the door to the cage open accidentally. The larger and stronger of the two birds flew from the cage. The girl was so frightened that he would fly away. So as he flew close, she grasped him wildly. Her heart felt glad at her success in capturing him. Suddenly, she felt the bird go weak, so she opened her hand and stared in horror at the dead bird. It was her desperate love that had killed him.
She noticed the other bird moving back and forth on the edge of the cage. She could feel his strong desire—needing to fly into the clear, blue sky. Unwillingly, she lifted him from the cage and threw him softly into the air. The lucky bird circled once, twice, three times.
The girl watched delightedly at the bird. Her heart was no longer concerned with her loss. What she wanted to see was that the bird could fly happily. Suddenly the bird flew closer and landed softly on her shoulder. It sang the sweetest tune that she had ever heard.
Remember, the fastest way to lose love is to hold on it too tight; the best way to keep love is to give it wings!
1.After the girl found the two birds, she ____.
A. became frightened at once
B. began to treat them badly
C. greeted them happily
D. fed them and raised them
2. Why did the girl grasp the stronger bird wildly?
A. Because the girl disliked the bird any longer
B. Because the bird wanted to fly alone.
C. Because the girl loved the bird deeply.
D. Because the bird intended to find some food.
3. What can we learn from the passage?
A. Catch what you can catch on your way to success.
B. Going too far is as bad as not going far enough.
C. East or west, home is best.
D. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
假定你在参加一场英语辩论赛，你是正方辩手，试用英语简要地表明自己的观点。
主题 | Shall a senior school student take a part-time job in holidays? |
观点 | 1. 高中生重视功课，面对社会所知甚少。 |
| 2．假期做a part-time job是很好的社会实践。 |
| 3. 假期是最好的补偿时间。 |
| 3．通过书本学到的东西不如通过经验学到的东西有效。 |
| 4．通过社会实践，我们可以在知识和能力两个方面取得进步。 |
| 5．假期做a part-time job的报酬对家里或多或少有些帮助。 |
结论 | 高中生…… |
注意：（社会实践：social practice; 社会：society ; 知识：knowledge ）
1、 词数100左右；2、开头已为你写好。
Here are my points. _____________________________________________________________
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文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在此处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（＼）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从11处起）不计分。
Dear Grandpa,
How are you those days? I have been missing you very much after I went to college a year ago. Whenever I think of the old days, I feel very happily. I still remember when I was child, you always held me in your arms and told me stories till I fall asleep. We often went to the fields to enjoy the pleasant view there. You told me the name of different plants and their characteristics. Gradually, I became interesting in biology and chose to learn biology when I entered into the college. Now my friend Ann, together with me, are going to do field study and the findings will be use as materials for our research. Since we’ll do the study in our hometown, I hope to see you by then.
Yours,
Daisy
1.You are not allowed to camp here without ________（允许，许可）.
2.Nowadays people use ______ (信封) less and less because they turn to other forms of communication rather than write letters.
3.To be frank, we all have our strengths as well as ______ (弱点).
4.It is the ________（风俗）for westerners to celebrate Christmas.
5.It was getting darker and darker, we waited anxiously for the ________（到达）of the next bus.
6.I know you don’t like her but try not to make it so _________（明显的）.
7.We asked the stranger the question out of ______(好奇).
8.My sister, an inexperienced rider, was found sitting on the bicycle trying to ________（平衡） it.
9.He is not a wealthy person; on the ________（相反），he has been in heavy debt..
10.Thank you for ______（提醒） me about my appointment..
