Malia Obama, the elder daughter of former US President Barack Obama, would postpone enrolling in Harvard. She would take a gap year.
Gap years are so popular in Britain that more than 200,000 students take them every year. However, they are virtually unknown to many students in the US. Only about 1 percent of graduating seniors, or about 30,000 Americans students, decide to take a year off between high school and college.
Gap years, as defined by most US colleges, are structured educational periods of travel, volunteering or other kinds of learning through experiences. They usually have to be approved by the colleges which students plan to attend, and more American students, like Malia Obama, have started to take gap years.
According to American Gap Association(AGA)surveys, there was a 22 percent increase in students taking gap years in 2015 over the previous year.
While many colleges and particularly public universities don’t allow students to postpone enrollment, Florida State Universality has begun encouraging its freshmen to take a year off from their studies in order to get some extra maturity and new experience.
“We know very clearly now that gap years can be an educational experience that changes you completely,” said Joe O’shea, the president of(AGA),“Gap years help increase students’ focus while their identities and future plans take shape.”
She believes gap years are good ways for young people to get away from their comfortable lives or pressures from society, and to see their lives from a new angle. “It helps you choose your path, instead of letting it choose you.
Karis Engle spent a year with a charitable organization in Haiti at age 18. The experience has made her realize that she wants to help others. Now Engle has become the president of the Glades Initiative, a non-profit organization that helps with food security in communities in southern Florida. She said the immersion in a very different culture completely changed her worldview. By the time she entered Bethel College in Kansas a year later, her life had changed. “I felt like I was different from most people there. I knew clearly what I wanted to study, which was international development with an emphasis on social work.”
1.The example of Malia Obama is to show ________.
A. some American students begin to take gap years
B. taking gap years is necessary for American students
C. fewer students want to take gap years in America
D. famous persons encourage their children to take gap years
2.From the passage, we can infer that ________.
A. American governments support seniors to take gap years
B. American students taking gap years will have a sharp increase soon
C. students who take gap years needn’t apply to college
D. students taking gap years are not just for making money
3.Karis Engle thinks ________.
A. taking gap years has influenced her cultural choices
B. taking gap years seldom affects participants’ worldview
C. taking gap years is very valuable for her to choose her career
D. taking gap years is helpful for her entry into college
4.What is the main purpose of the passage?
A. To advertise for taking gap years.
B. To introduce the situation of gap years in the US.
C. To discuss how to take gap years.
D. To share opinions about taking gap year.
Some creative people see colors when they hear different sounds. Others hear voices when they see words and numbers. What they experience is called synaesthesia(通感)。
A study at the University of Sussex in the UK is finding out how to use synacsthesia to improve your IQ and memory. The study leaders Danil Bor has been working on exploring memory for a number of year. Bor says that carrying out these tests has given them the opportunity to find out more about how we use different kinds of memory.
Bor based his latest research on something scientists already know a lot about “chunks”. He explains that this is a way of parceling out large pieces of information into smaller units (chunks), with certain features or meanings, to make it easier to remember.” When I gave you my phone number, 01274737271, you probably remember it as 012-74-73-72-71, or something similar. If you can remember 012 and then 74, you can remember the rest by its features. You can get some amazing benefits from chunks.”
In this way, synacesthesia adds extra meaningful information to things that are different to remember, such as letters, numbers, or colors. This helps us remember things betters.” All these signs are pointing towards synaesthesia being connected to greater abilities to do certain things, certain jobs.” says Bor. “So, the study began as a way to test that.”
They wanted to see if they could create a way to learn about synaesthesia, and use its benefits to help everyone. In the study, they trained volunteers for 10 minutes a day for a week. The results were not huge, but impressive.
They discovered that after training, the volunteers were able to pass the normal synaesthesia tests and their IQ jumped up about 12 points. Although Bor believes they still need to test the increase in IQ with different groups of people, the result is very impressive. “It’s very useful to increases people’s IQs. Even when the group are already quite clever, like the students who take part in this study.” he said.
1.Which is the best title for this passage?
A. Synaesthesia, a Common Phenomenon B. Synaesthesia and Chunks
C. What Synaesthesia Tells Us? D. Synaesthesia Helps you Improve IQ
2.How does synaesthesia improve memory?
A. Synaesthesia adds news meanings to memory materials.
B. Synaesthesia is connected to greater abilities to do certain things.
C. Synaesthesia simplifies the memory process.
D. Synaesthesia blends blends various methods together.
3.What does “parcel out” in paragraph 3 mean?
A. Submit. B. Enlarge.
C. Break. D. Arouse.
4.From the passage, Bor feels ________ about the result of the test.
A. doubtful B. worried
C. optimistic D. uncertain
All of England
In fact, literary landmarks are so common in London that “blue plaques(木牌)” have been introduced to show off well-known literary sites. One of the more interesting plaques can be found at 221B Baker Street-the apartment of famous fictional detective Sherlock Holmes (although we can be pretty sure that he never actually stayed there).
Outside of London, it is possible to take organized tours around the countryside where England best writers grew up. If you join a Charles Dickens or Jane Austen tour, you’ll have the unique opportunity to visit the locations of famous fictional scenes. But to truly experience literature in person, you can visit Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare, and watch nightly performances of his plays.
Shanghai, China
Shanghai is a really charming city, where — underneath the surface of the city — one can find some real literary treasures. One star of Shanghai literature is LU Xun, a Writer often celebrated as the father of modern Chinese literature, who spent his last nine years in the city. It’s necessary, then, for all Shanghai literary travelers to visit Lu Xun Park, which features a memorial hall dedicated to the great writer.
Another place worth visiting is the old neighborhood of poet Xu Zhimo. Xu is well known for bringing “New Wave” romanticist poetry into Chinese works. Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore once stayed at his home while visiting Shanghai.
Rome, Italy
The English romantic poet John Keats once traveled to Rome in the hope that the Mediterranean air would cure his tuberculosis(肺结核). It didn’t, and Keats died within three months.
Despite the fact that Keat’s visit was a quick one, Rome has a reminder of it — the Keats-Shelley House. Keats’ former home has been transformed into a small museum, complete with a working library.
What’s more, just across the street is the Antico Caffe Greco, a cafe frequented by famous authors like Charles Dickens, Loud Byron, Henry James, Hans Christian Andersen, Many Shelley...We could go on, but you probably get the idea that this is somewhere any literary traveler has to go.
1.This passage is mainly about ________ in different places.
A. cultural introduction B. famous poets
C. scenic spots D. literary sites
2.In England, ________.
A. Shakespeare’s plays are performed anywhere
B. Sherlock Holmes once lived in London for a short time
C. blue plaques are pinned to mark the literary sites
D. June Austen’s former residence is in London
3.From the second part of the passage, we know ________.
A. Lu Xun Park is mainly made up of his former houses
B. Tagore once visited Xu Zhimo
C. Xu Zhimo created realistic Chinese poetry
D. Lu Xun spent all his lifetime in Shanghai
4.Antico Caffe Greco is ________.
A. a beautiful and grand construction
B. a museum in honor of John Keats
C. a place providing various collections of poems
D. a cafe which was visited by many authors in history
①.If you love basketball, you must know Stephen Curry, an excellent basketball player in the NBA.
②.Curry was born on March 14th, 1988 in Ohio, the US. His father and brother were both basketball players. In his childhood, his father often took him and his brother to watch the games and practise basketball after competitions. Influenced by his father, Curry showed the talents in playing basketball when he was young. And he had a perfect balance between athletic skills and performances. However, due to a lack of size and strength at that time, many school didn’t believe in his abilities or skills and rejected him joining their school basketball teams.
③.Curry never gave up but removed the doubts with hard training. All his devotion and persistence paid off. He was enrolled at Davidson College where he became a national star. He always got the most points in a game and people could hardly forget his fantastic performances. In 2009, Curry became a member of the GSW(Golden State Warriors).
④.Curry is famous especially for his three-point shoot. He made more than 400 three–point shots in the 2016 season. Many fans call him the greatest shooter in NBA history. He has won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award twice, and led the GSW to their first championship.
⑤“He is like a great actor on a Broadway stage.” said Coach Steve Kerr. “He sings his best notes and dances his best steps.”28 years old, Curry is still young and has a long way to go in NBA. We believe that he will bring us more surprises in the future.
1.Why was Curry rejected by some school teams before he become famous?
A. Because he lacked athletic skills.
B. Because he was thought to be weak and short.
C. Because he was too young.
D. Because he lacked game experience.
2.Paragraph 3 and 4 mainly tell us that ________.
A. Curry has been very successful. B. Curry is facing many questions.
C. Curry works very hard. D. Curry devotes much to the career.
3.What is the author’s attitude towards Curry?
A. Pity. B. Disappointment.
C. Concern. D. Admiration.
假设你是李华，你的英国笔友Mark来信说对我国的三亚很感兴趣。请你给他回封邮件，简单介绍以下内容：
1.三亚地处中国海南省南部，因美丽的海滨景色和四季如夏的气候而闻名；
2.三亚已发展成为最受欢迎的国际旅游城市之一，十分宜居；
3.其中著名的景点天涯海角和大东海等吸引了众多海内外游客。
旅游城市 a tourist city 天涯海角 the end of the seas and skies 大东海 Big east sea
要求：词数120左右。
Dear Mark,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
短文中共有10处错误，错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号(∧)，并在此符号下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线( \ )划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词的下面写出修改后的词。
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。
Dear John,
How are thing going with you in Beijing? I am writing to thank you. You help me a lot with my speaking English before you went to Beijing last month. With your help I made so rapid progress when I won the first place in the English Speech Competition of our city. Thank you very much. I’ve been heard that you will pay visit to our school next month. If it is possible, we can see each other again. I am really looking forward on your visit. I am sending you one of my drawings as a smaller gift. I hope you will like them.
Yours,
Carol
