Last year, my brother and I went to Miami for a vacation. Some of my friends who had been there before said 1. was a wonderful holiday destination. Before we went, we had planned for months. When the day came, we were ready.
After our plane landed, we went to the hotel. We had made our reservation six months2.（early）, but the man at the front desk said there had been a mistake. We 3.（tell）that our rooms hadn’t been reserved for that week, 4. for the week after. I didn’t understand 5.this would happen and my credit card had already been charged6. the reservation. What’s worse, the hotel had been fully booked. When we were wondering what to do, the manager came out. She was 7.（surprise）helpful. She apologized for the mistake and gave us a spare VIP room on 8. top floor. We had never stayed in such an amazing room, and we weren’t charged extra.
The next day, my brother and I went to the beach 9. we watched some people play volleyball. We got a little10.（sunburn）, but the day had been so relaxing that we didn’t mind.
Parents feel that it is difficult to live with teenagers. Then again, teenagers have______feelings about their parents, saying that it is not easy living with them. According to a recent research, the most common ________ between parents and teenagers is that regarding untidiness and daily routine tasks. On the one hand, parents go mad over ________ rooms, clothes thrown on the floor and their children’s refusal to help with the ________. On the other hand, teenagers lose their patience continually when parents blame them for ________ the towel in the bathroom, not cleaning up their room or refusing to do the shopping at the supermarket.
The research, conducted by St. George University, shows that different parents have different _________ to these problems. However, some approaches are more __________ than others. For example, those parents who yell at their children for their untidiness, but _______ clean the room for them, have fewer chances of changing their children’s ________. On the contrary, those who let teenagers experience the ________ of their actions can do better. For example, when teenagers who don’t help their parents with the shopping don’t find their favorite drink in the refrigerator, they are forced to ________ their actions.
Psychologists say that ______ is the most important thing in parent-child relationships. Parents should ______to their children but at the same time they should lend an ear to what they have to say. Parents may ______ their children when they are untidy but they should also understand that their room is their own private space. Communication is a two-way process. It is only by listening to and ______ each other that problems between parents and children can be settled.
1.A. natural B. strong C. guilty D. similar
2.A. interest B. argument C. link D. knowledge
3.A. noisy B. crowded C. messy D. locked
4.A. homework B. housework C. problem D. research
5.A. washing B. using C. dropping D. replacing
6.A. approaches B. contributions C. introductions D. attitudes
7.A. complex B. popular C. scientific D. successful
8.A. later B. deliberately C. seldom D. thoroughly
9.A. behavior B. taste C. future D. nature
10.A. failures B. changes C. consequences D. thrills
11.A. defend B. delay C. repeat D. reconsider
12.A. communication B. bond C. friendship D. trust
13.A. reply B. attend C. attach D. talk
14.A. hate B. scold C. frighten D. stop
15.A. loving B. observing C. understanding D. praising
You may not be very familiar with “ecotourism”. 1.But in an age of growing environmental awareness, it is not too difficult for us to imagine and understand this new form of holiday.
Ecotourism which is considered as a kind of responsible tourism, is typically defined as travel to places where special and unusual plants, animals and cultural heritages(遗产)are the main attractions, 2.Therefore, programs concerning the protection of some natural and cultural sots also form a part of ecotourism.
Ecotourism is developing at a great speed, according to a recent report by the World Tourism Organization. Ecotourism in recent years has enjoyed an annual growth of about 5% world wide. 3.They include bird watching, hiking, diving, photography and taking part in various kinds of local cultural events.
4.However, it looks like some smaller towns and country areas may well become the new destinations for people to visit tomorrow because they are rich in ecological, cultural and historical resources.
Ecotourism has been gaining increasing recognition and popularity mainly for the relaxing, natural and vivid experience it offers to tourists. People are attracted to nature and long to be close to it. However, conflict between nature and human being is unavoidable.5.
A. The definition of ecotourism is beyond words
B. It takes ecology and culture into consideration
C. It is a new term in today’s tourism industry
D. More than 80 activities have been listed for ecotourism
E. People can have great fun enjoying nature through ecotourism
F. Big cities are still the major places that attract tourists in our society today
G. How to protect natural resources while taking advantage is of great importance
Scientists today are making greater effort to study ocean currents(洋流). Most do it using satellites and other high-tech equipment. However, ocean expert Curtis Ebbesmeyer does it in a special way-by studying movements of random floating garbage. A scientist with many years’ experience, he started this type of research in the early 1990s when he heard about hundreds of athletic shoes washing up on the shores of the northwest coast of the United States. There were so many shoes that people were setting up swap meets to try and match left and right shoes to sell or wear.
Ebbesmeyer found out in his researches that the shoes — about 60,000 in total — fell into the ocean in a shipping accident. He phoned the shoe company and asked if they wanted the shoes back. As expected, the company told him that they didn't. Ebbesmeyer realized this could be a great experiment. If he learned when and where the shoes went into the water and tracked where they landed, he could learn a lot about the patterns of ocean currents.
The Pacific Northwest is one of the world's best areas for beachcombing(海滩搜寻) because winds and currents join here, and as a result, there is a group of serious beachcombers in the area. Ebbesmeyer got to know a lot of them and asked for their help in collecting information about where the shoes landed. In a year he collected reliable information on 1, 600 shoes. With this data, he and a colleague were able to test and improve a computer program designed to model ocean currents, and publish the findings of their study.
As the result of his work, Ebbesmeyer has become known as the scientist to call with questions about any unusual objects found floating in the ocean. He has even started an association of beachcombers and ocean experts, with 500 subscribers from West Africa to New Zealand. They have recorded all lost objects ranging from potatoes to golf gloves.
1.The underlined phrase swap meets in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ______________.
A. fitting rooms B. trading fairs
C. business talks D. group meetings
2.Ebbesmeyer phoned the shoe company to find out _____________.
A. what caused the shipping accident
B. when and where the shoes went missing
C. whether it was all right to use their shoes
D. how much they lost in the shipping accident
3.How did Ebbesmeyer prove his assumption?
A. By collecting information from beachcombers.
B. By studying the shoes found by beachcomber.
C. By searching the web for ocean currents models.
D. By researching ocean currents data in the library.
4.Ebbesmeyer is most famous for ________.
A. traveling widely the coastal cities of the world
B. making records for any lost objects on the sea
C. running a global currents research association
D. phoning about any doubtful objects on the sea
5.What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
A. To call people's attention to ocean pollution.
B. To warn people of shipping safety in the ocean.
C. To explain a unique way of studying ocean currents.
D. To give tips on how to search for lost objects on the beach.
Like many new graduates, I left university full of hope for the future but with no real idea of what I wanted to do. My degree, with honors, in English literature had not really prepared me for anything practical. I knew I wanted to make a difference in the world somehow, but I had no idea how to do that. That’s when I learned about the Lighthouse Project.
I started my journey as a Lighthouse Project volunteer by reading as much as I could about the experiences of previous volunteers. I knew it would be a lot of hard work, and that I would be away from my family and friends for a very long time. In short, I did not take my decision to apply for the Lighthouse Project lightly. Neither did my family.
Eventually, however, I won the support of my family, and I sent in all the paperwork needed for the application. After countless interviews and presentations, I managed to stand out among the candidates and survive the test alone. Several months later, I finally received a call asking me to report for the duty. I would be going to a small village near Abuja, Nigeria. Where? What? Nigeria? I had no idea. But I was about to find out.
After completing my training, I was sent to the village that was small and desperately in need of proper accommodation. Though the local villagers were poor, they offered their homes, hearts, and food as if I were their own family. I was asked to lead a small team of local people in building a new schoolhouse. For the next year or so, I taught in that same schoolhouse. But I sometimes think I learned more from my students than they did from me.
Sometime during that period, I realized that all those things that had seemed so strange or unusual to me no longer did, though I did not get anywhere with the local language, and returned to the United States a different man. The Lighthouse Project had changed my life forever.
1.What do we know about the author?
A. His university education focused on the theoretical knowledge.
B. His dream at university was to become a volunteer.
C. He took pride in having contributed to the world.
D. He felt honored to study English literature.
2.According to the Project Lighthouse, it is likely that the author______________
A. discussed his decision with his family.
B. asked previous volunteers about voluntary work
C. attended special training to perform difficult tasks
D. felt sad about having to leave his family and friends
3.In his application for the volunteer job, the author _______________
A. Participated in many discussions
B. Went through challenging survival tests
C. Wrote quite a few paper on voluntary work
D. Faced strong competition from other candidates
4.On arrival at the village, the author was ___________
A. asked to lead a farming team
B. sent to teach in schoolhouse
C. received warmly by local villagers
D. arranged to live in a separate house.
5.What can we infer from the author’s experiences in Nigeria?
A. He found some difficulty adapting to the local culture
B. He had learned to communicate in the local language.
C. He had overcome all his weakness before he left for home.
D. He was chosen as the most respectable teacher by his students.
It was a cold winter day. A woman drove up to the Rainbow Bridge tollbooth(收费站). “I’m paying for myself, and for the six cars behind me,” she said with a smile, handing over seven tickets. One after another, the next six drivers arriving at the tollbooth were informed, “Some lady up ahead already paid your fare.”
It turned out that the woman, Natalie Smith, had read something on a friend’s refrigerator: “Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” The phrase impressed her so much that she copied it down.
Judy Foreman spotted the same phrase on a warehouse wall far away from home. When it stayed on her mind for days, she gave up and drove all the way back to copy it down. “I thought it was beautiful,” she said, explaining why she’d taken to writing it at the bottom of all her letters, “like a message from above.” Her husband, Frank, liked the phrase so much that he put it up on the classroom wall for his students, one of whom was the daughter of Alice Johnson, a local news reporter. Alice put it in the newspaper, admitting that though she liked it, she didn’t know where it came from or what it really meant.
Two days later, Alice got a call from Anne Herbert, a woman living in Marin. It was in a restaurant that Anne wrote the phrase down on a piece of paper, after turning it around in her mind for days.
“Here’s the idea,” Anne says. “Anything you think there should be more of, do it randomly.” Her fantasies include painting the classrooms of shabby schools, leaving hot meals on kitchen tables in the poor part of town, and giving money secretly to a proud old lady. Anne says, “Kindness can build on itself as much as violence can.”
The acts of random kindness spread. If you were one of those drivers who found your fare paid, who knows what you might have been inspired to do for someone else later. Like all great events, kindness begins slowly, with every single act. Let it be yours!
1.Why did Natalie Smith pay for the six cars behind her?
A. She knew the car drivers well.
B. She wanted to show kindness.
C. She hoped to please others.
D. She had seven tickets.
2.Judy Foreman copied down the phrase because she _________.
A. thought it was beautifully written
B. wanted to know what it really meant
C. decided to write it on a warehouse wall
D. wanted her husband to put it up in the classroom
3.Who came up with the phrase according to the passage?
A. Judy Foreman B. Natalie Smith
C. Alice Johnson D. Anne Herbert
4.Which of the following statements is closest in the meaning to the underlined sentence above?
A. Kindness and violence can change the world.
B. Kindness and violence can affect one’s behavior.
C. Kindness and violence can reproduce themselves.
D. Kindness and violence can shape one’s character.
5.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. People should practice random kindness to those in need.
B. People who receive kindness are likely to offer it to others.
C. People should practice random kindness to strangers they meet.
D. People who receive kindness are likely to pay it back to the giver.
