Banks view online banking as a powerful “value-added” tool to attract and keep new customers while helping to eliminate costly paper handling or teller（出纳员）interactions in an increasingly competitive banking environment.
Today, most large national banks, many local banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking, variously known as PC banking, home banking, electronic banking or Internet banking. Online banks are sometimes referred to as “brick-to-click” banks, both to tell them from “brick-to-mortar” banks that haven’t yet offered online banking, as well as from “virtual”（虚拟）banks that have no physical branches or tellers whatsoever.
The challenge for the banking industry has been to design this new service channel in such a way that its customers will readily learn to use and trust it. Most of the large banks can now offer fully safe , fully functional（功能的）online banking for free or for a small cost. As more banks succeed online and more customers use their sites, fully functional online banking will likely become as commonplace as automated teller machines (ATM).
Online banking has a lot of advantages. Unlike your corner bank, online banking sites never close; they’re at hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week and they’re a mouse click away. If you’re out of state or even out of the country when a money problem appears, you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business. Online bank sites generally carry out and confirm deals at or quicker than ATM processing speeds. Many online banking sites now offer fashionable tools to help you manage all of your valuable items more effectively.
1.The underlined word “eliminate” in the first paragraph probably means “ ”.
A. keep B. remove C. raise D. improve
2.What is the challenge for the online banking industry according to the text?
A. To make online banking attractive.
B. To open new services all over the world.
C. To offer online banking for free.
D. To take care of business 24 hours a day.
3.From the text we can conclude that _______.
A. “brick-to-click” banks are in fact another kind of physical banks
B. the function of a “brick-to-click” bank is as common as that of an ATM
C. a “brick-to-mortar” bank is no better than a virtual one
D. customers can deal with their banking by a mouse click
4.What would be the best title for this text?
A. Banking of Various Forms
B. Improvement of Banking Industry
C. Development of Online Banking
D. Functions of the “Brick-to-Click” Bank
The deadliest Ebola(埃博拉病毒) outbreak in recorded history is happening right now. The outbreak is unprecedented(空前的) both in the number of people who have gotten sick and in the geographic scope. And so far it’s been a long battle that doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Ebola is both rare and very deadly. Since the first outbreak in 1976, Ebola viruses have infected thousands of people and killed roughly killed 60 percent of them. Symptoms can come on quickly and kill fast.
The current outbreak started in Guinea sometime in late 2013 or early 2014. It has since spread to Sierra Leone and Liberia, including some capital cities. And one infected patient traveled on a plane to Nigeria, where he spread the disease to several others and then died. Cases have also popped up in various other countries throughout the world, including in Dallas and New York City in the United States.
The Ebola virus has now hit many countries, including Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Nigeria, Senegal, and the United States. The virus, which starts off with flu-like symptoms and sometimes ends with bleeding, has infected about 6,500 people and killed more than 3,000 since this winter, according to the World Health Organization on September 30, 2014.
There are some social and political factors contributing to the current disaster. Because this is the first major Ebola outbreak in West Africa, many of the region’s health workers didn’t have experience or training in how to protect themselves or care for patients with this disease.
Journalist David Quammen put it well in a recent New York Times article, “Ebola is more dangerous to humans than perhaps any known virus on Earth, except rabies(狂犬病) and HIV. And it does its damage much faster than either.”
Hopefully, researchers are working to find drugs, including a recent $50 million push at the National Institutes of Health. And scientists are working on vaccines(疫苗), including looking into ones that might be able to help wild chimpanzees, which are also susceptible to the disease. The first human Ebola vaccine trial is scheduled to start in the spring of 2015.
1.According to the passage, which of the following about Ebola is true?
A. The Ebola outbreak now is the biggest one in history.
B. Ebola breaks out quickly but it is under control now.
C. Ebola is deadly and common so it kills a lot of people.
D. Ebola killed about 60 thousand people quickly in 1976.
2.The Ebola virus was brought to Nigeria by .
A. a flying bird B. an infected passenger
C. hot African weather D. a health organization
3.The last paragraph mainly tells us that .
A. it will be a huge waste when researchers spend lots of money finding a cure
B. the vaccines can be effective to wild chimpanzees but not to the humans
C. there will be an optimistic future in which we can defeat the disease
D. we can use the vaccine to cure the patients completely in 2015’s spring
4.What is the best title of the passage?
A. Ebola ---- The African Local Disaster
B. Ebola ---- The Newly-Found Disease
C. Ebola ---- A More Effective Vaccine
D. Ebola ---- The Deadly Virus Outbreak
书面表达
假设你是李华，你所在的学校英文报刊向全体高二学生征稿，主题是“环境保护”，你有意参加此次活动。请根据下列要点完成一篇英语作文。
1．低碳(low-carbon)生活对我们的好处。
2．日常生活，我们可以做些什么(如居家，出行，在校或购物等时候)。
注意：
1．词数100左右。
2．可以适当增减细节，以使行文连贯。
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），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：在错的词下面划一横线，并在该词下面写出改正后的词。
注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
I was playing at my cousin house. Since his family was rich than mine, he had more toys than I did. There was one on particular I’d always wanted. I put into my pocket when he wasn’t looking. I guessed, even at that age, I would never be able to enjoy to playing with the toy or faced my cousin again; I would always know I’d done something wrong. Late on, my aunt drove me home. When she dropped me off, I pulled out the toy slow and gave it back. She knows what had happened, but she thanked me and ever mentioned it again.
语法填空
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（限填1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
I will never forget watching my son play soccer in his middle school. My son was not a star player. In fact, he didn’t have the opportunity to play for long in each game 1. the rules at that time made sure everyone should participate in the game. In one game, with the score tied and time 2. (run) out, he was playing a defensive position. The other team’s star player got 3. ball but my son was in his way. Somehow, when they met, the result was that the star player 4. (fall) on the ground and my son got the ball. He ran with 5. and had a clear path to the goal. His coach jumped up and down 6. (yell) “go” and most of the parents yelled for victory. When my son kicked the ball several yards towards the goal, he 7. (sudden) stopped and went back to the star player, helping him up. When we all got 8. (enthusiasm) about the game and forgot about basic values of fairness and fun, my son helped a player of the other team. Deeply 9. (touch) after the game, I hugged my son with 10. (proud). I was so glad that my son knew there was something more important than winning.
完形填空
For most of the eight years they have been married, Ryan has never received a hug from his wife, Tracy. He has not even received a ________ “hello” or a smile. Tracy has been ________ since 2008. But this is not a story about the ________outcome of a young lady. Rather, it is about a man who has stayed ________to his wife, nursing her night and day, making sure she is as ________ as possible.
Ryan and Tracy ________ in a friend’s home in 2003. “She was beautiful and interesting to talk to,” Ryan says of his first ________ of Tracy. In 2005, they got married and were very happy. However, a call put the couple’s life in________ a month after their daughter was born. Ryan was at work when a neighbor called to inform him that Tracy had been ________ to the hospital.
________ , he ran to the hospital. When he got there, he knew his ________ had been treated for fever. However, the fever did not ________after Tracy received that medical treatment.
Tracy’s breathing became labored and was________ to speak. The medical examination ________ she developed an infection damaging her nerve system. Tracy went into a coma(昏迷) and a few days later, though she regained consciousness, she________ could not move her lower legs. “She was admitted to hospital for four months and ________doctors did all they could, her ________ got worse,” Ryan says. She could no longer ________ her legs, and lost the ability to give voices.
“Those four months are the most ________time I have ever had. I have never stopped hoping and praying she will regain her________ ,” Ryan says with a smile, “I miss her laughter, and wonder what kind of a mother she would be to our daughter.”
1.A. happy B. simple C. different D. basic
2.A. weak B. alone C. ill D. cruel
3.A. magic B. exciting C. unexpected D. sad
4.A. true B. strange C. rude D. useful
5.A. comfortable B. special C. safe D. conscious
6.A. married B. stayed C. met D. worked
7.A. impression B. expression C. discussion D. attention
8.A. danger B. trouble C. surprise D. silence
9.A. dashed B. rushed C. pushed D. carried
10.A. Angry B. Confident C. Anxious D. Proud
11.A. daughter B. friend C. neighbor D. wife
12.A. slow down B. go down C. look down D. burn down
13.A. ready B. eager C. unwilling D. unable
14.A. revealed B. repeated C. agreed D. admitted
15.A. even B. instead C. still D. again
16.A. though B. after C. since D. when
17.A. attitude B. examination C. condition D. pain
18.A. clean B. remove C. touch D. move
19.A. wonderful B. difficult C. ridiculous D. important
20.A. position B. power C. confidence D. health
