Sunday, October 5
Sunny, 66°F
My wife, Ellen, and I traveled by train from Paris to Strasbourg, where we met our driver and guide and the minibus which goes along with the boat. We stopped off in Barn for an hour on the way. Then we were taken to Nancy where the boat was kept.
After the other passengers arrived, we had our first dinner on the boat. After dinner we walked into downtown Nancy, a village with a large square and wooden houses.
Monday, October 6
Rained last night, cloudy in the morning, 69°F
We spent about two hours in Nancy, and then sailed on the Canal de la Marne au Rhine. Kind of a lazy day. Eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, after dinner we watched a tape on Baccarat, where we will visit tomorrow.
It was pleasant to sit out on deck and watch the scenery go by at about 3 mph.
Tuesday, October 7
Light rain, 64°F
This morning we drove over to Baccarat and toured its museum and the church, which has this unbelievable lamp that is going on a world tour the next day. We did lots of shopping, and then walked across the bridge to see a very, very modern Catholic church with special Baccarat windows.
We drove to the top of the Voges Mountains and started down the eastern side. Later we drove to Sorrenbourg to see the 13th century church at the Cordeliers.
Wednesday, October 8
Cloudy, 65°F
Today we sailed from Schneckenbush to Saverne. We went through two caves, an extremely unusual part of the journey. This river scenery is very different. We were in a mountain valley with grassland on one side and a forest beginning to show some color on the other.
Thursday, October 9
Cloudy, 66°F
Our dependable minibus was waiting to load the luggage and take us to the hotel where everyone went their separate ways. Our boating days are over until next time.
1.Where did the author get off the train?
A. Paris. B. Nancy. C. Strasbourg. D. Barn.
2.On which days did the tourists spend most of their time on the boat?
A. Monday and Tuesday. B. Monday and Wednesday.
C. Wednesday and Thursday. D. Tuesday and Wednesday.
3.What does the author think of the tour?
A. Tiring. B. Expensive. C. Quick. D. Enjoyable.
We live in a sweet world. An average American kid consumes(消耗) more than 20 teaspoons of sugar per day, and adults eat 50% more sugar today than they did in the 1970s. We all know that too much sugar isn’t good for us. Researchers at the University of Utah used mice to make a study to prove the toxic effects of eating more sugar. They found it could influence people’s health seriously.
During the 58-week-long study, mice were fed a diet containing 25% more sugar. This percentage is equal to a healthy human diet along with three cans of soda daily. The team found that these mice were twice as likely to die as mice without eating so much sugar. Though the mice did not show signs of obesity or high blood pressure, male mice produced 25% fewer offspring(后代) than the other mice.
The reason why mice were chosen for research by scientists is not far to seek. “Mice have the genetic(基因) structure similar to humans’. Most substances(物质) that are harmful to mice are also harmful to people; it’s likely that those important physical problems that cause the rising death rate among mice can also influence people,” says the study author James Ruff of the University of Utah. Findings from this study reveal negative effects that are not as detectable as weight gain or heart problems. Sugar can contribute to long-term changes in the body that can affect development and even shorten lives.
Different types of sugar have different effects on the human body. Some of the sugar we consume comes from foods we might expect—candy, soda, and cookies. But much of the sugar that we eat is hidden. Food companies add large amounts of sugar to items we may not classify as sweets. To help cut down extra sugar consumption, nutrition experts suggest looking at the ingredients on food packages. Cutting sugar out of the American diet altogether may be difficult, but making every effort to control our nation’s desire for sugar will avoid a sweeter future.
1.The underlined word “toxic” in Paragraph1 probably means “________”.
A. positive B. harmful C. doubtful D. reasonable
2.According to Paragraph 2, we can know ________.
A. mice eating more sugar will live longer
B. the study on mice lasted less than a year
C. the study showed the bad effects of more sugar on mice
D. mice eating more sugar will become fatter and fatter
3.Why did the scientists choose mice to do the study?
A. Because a substance may have the same effects on mice and humans.
B. Because mice have a longer lifespan (寿命) than other animals.
C. Because mice can take in the harmful substances easily and quickly.
D. Because mice are sensitive to the sweet taste.
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
A. sugar from candy, soda and cookies is helpful for us
B. we should never believe what food companies said
C. most types of sugar have similar effects on people
D. it’s necessary to control people’s wish for sugar
Animals can be extremely protective of their young. But when hard times call, animal fathers can be really a danger to their own kids.
Daddy Lion
A combination of laziness, pride, cruelty and anger makes the lion one of the most fearsome and worst dads of the animal kingdom. When not walking proudly across the jungle, the father lion just lazes around under the sun, or waits for one of its lioness(母狮子) partners to bring back food. Once the lioness gets home the food, the lion eats up most of it, and leaves little or nothing at all for the kids. The father doesn’t even train the kids for hunting and surviving, it is the lioness who teaches them how to fend for themselves.
The Polar Father
Cute, pure and soft. Protective of young ones and family? Sure. But what makes the polar bears one of the worst dads of the animal kingdom? They don’t take care of the young ones, they won’t take up the responsibility of feeding them, they won’t take care of them like a father should. They just leave that to the mother bear.
The Assassin Bug(猎蝽)
Size matters, you say? This little bug would eat its own eggs to stay strong and fulfill its hunger needs. The male assassin bug is actually responsible for guarding the eggs. The female assassin bug lays eggs in large numbers. The male bug eats the weaker eggs.
Daddy Bass(岩鲈鱼)
Usually, water calms you down. Not so much for this underwater species. The male bass is known to eat up eggs from its own spawn. It guards the spawn(子，卵) laid by its female partner. However, when hungry and unable to hunt for food, the father won’t think twice before eating up the eggs.
And do you think your father was strict and hard? After reading this article, I’m sure you think your dad is the best in the whole wide world for not eating you up!
1.The animal fathers mentioned in this article ________.
A. are protective of their young
B. are respected by their young
C. are rather bad to their kids
D. are dangerous to their whole family
2.The underlined phrase “fend for” (Para 2) probably means ________.
A. fight for B. learn from
C. look after D. look for
3.The lion and the polar bears are similar in ________.
A. searching food all by themselves
B. letting the mothers take care of the kids
C. letting the mothers eat up the food
D. wanting to train the kids to be cruel
4.Which can best describe the male assassin bug?
A. Weak but kind. B. Responsible and careful.
C. Strong and cruel. D. Little but cruel.
I’m Evan Ducker. I’m just like every other 15-year-old boy, except I was born with a red birthmark(胎记).
Some birthmarks are signs of serious medical conditions. I’m very fortunate—mine isn’t. I pretty much live a regular life, except for people asking me about it all the time, which can get annoying(恼人的) sometimes.
When I was about 4 years old, I asked my mom why there weren’t any characters with birthmarks in the books she would read to me. When we went to the library, we realized there weren’t any available for little kids. Worse than that, the books available to older kids and adults described characters with birthmarks as unattractive. So I decided to write my own.
I based the story on all the real things that happened in my life. But instead of people, the characters in the book are real animals from the Galapagos Islands, including red-footed booby birds (鲣鸟). I picked a booby bird as the main character because the birds have red feet due to a vascular (血管的) condition, similar to a human birthmark!
It was really tough to get my book published. It took a long time because a lot of publishers refused to publish it. They would say there wasn’t a big enough market for a book about birthmarks.
But my mom never gave up trying to help make my dream come true. And in 2005, she finally took her own money and self-published “Buddy Booby’s Birthmark”. After it was published, I got letters from readers all over the world. They all shared their stories and thanked me for sharing mine. Teachers wrote to tell me that my book changed the way classmates treated each other and that my book was helping kids to accept and appreciate their differences.
Then, as more teachers started reading my book, I created a free global reading event, the “International Buddy Booby’s Birthmark Read—Along for Tolerance and Awareness.”
1.The author’s birthmark seems to ________.
A. be easy to remove
B. annoy him all the time
C. cause serious health problems
D. bring him some trouble
2.What the author found in the library made him ________.
A. regretful B. disappointed C. stressed D. bored
3.What did the publishers think of the author’s book?
A. It wouldn’t sell well.
B. It was rather uninteresting.
C. It was poorly written.
D. It wasn’t fit for kids to read.
4.The author’s book “Buddy Booby’s Birthmark” ________.
A. was a best-seller in 2005
B. was the first book about birthmarks
C. made a difference to its readers
D. helped kids fall in love with reading
书面表达
假设你是李华，计划和同学去中山公园陪老师过教师节。请你给张路写一封电子邮件，邀请她一同前往，内容包括：
1.出发时间：上午八点半在校门口集合，乘2路公交车去中山公园；
2.活动：欣赏花展，看戏剧表演，和老师们表演节目；
3.中午和老师们一起吃饭；
4.返回时间：下午五点左右；
5.带相机给老师拍照。
注意：1 词数100左右；2. 可适当加入细节，以使内容充实，行文连贯。开头和结尾已给出，不计入总字数。
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。每处错误仅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. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一个词：
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Dear Sam,
I hear that you’ll travel to China next month. Now I’ll tell you anything about it. Beijing is capital city of China. There are so many amazed places we cannot miss. For example, the Great Wall — one of the seven wonder in the world, the Palace Museum and Yuan Ming Yuan. And you may also go to Hua Shan — a dangerously steep mountain. At last I advise you to visit Hu Nan, that is famous for Zhang Jia Jie. In the way, have you ever heard of Mao Zedong, one of the greatest leaders in Chinese history? If you go to Shao Shan, you’ll know many about him. Oh, I must be stop now, but I will get ready for my final exams.
Yours,
Ahfang
