The Dragon Boat Festival which occurs on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar is a 1. (tradition) holiday that commemorates the life and death of the famous Chinese scholar Qu Yuan
It is a celebration where many eat zongzi and 2. (race) dragon boats. In China, the festival was also celebrated as “Poets’ Day” in honor of Qu Yuan, who 3. (know) as China’s first poet.
The local people began the tradition of throwing sacrificial cooked rice into the river for Qu Yuan, 4. others believed that the rice would prevent the fishes in the river from 5. (eat) Qu Yuan’s body. At first, the locals decided 6. (make) zongzi in hopes that it would sink into the river and reach Qu Yuan’s body. However, the tradition of wrapping the rice in bamboo 7. (leaf) to make zongzi began the following year.
A dragon boat is a human-powered boat 8. is traditionally made of leak wood to various designs and sizes. They usually have 9. (bright) decorated designs that range anywhere from 40 to 100 feet in length, with the front end shaped like open-mouthed dragons, and the back end with a scaly tail. The boat can have up to 80 rowers to power the boat, depending on the length. A sacred ceremony is performed before any competition in order to “bring the boat to life” by painting the eyes The first team to grab a flag at the end of the course wins 10. race.
I’ll bet that no one can describe the feeling one has when they go home for the first time, I know I couldn’t. After living in the dorm for three weeks and gelling over ______, I was actually looking forward to having some quiet time at home. On Friday, September 13, I packed up a few things and left campus around 2:00 p.m.______ being Friday the 13th, the main question on my mind was,______ would it be like to go home for the first time after just getting over homesickness? As my mother drove through town I could tell that not much had ______, but still felt weird.______ it dawned on me. I was starting to think of Cedar Crest as my home.
I had a great weekend. I ______ Jewish services most of the weekend, but I did have time to fool around on America Online and do a few other things that I had ______ for three weeks. I spent a lot of time playing with my pet bunny rabbit ______ I missed her a lot. When Sunday came around I ______ wanted to get back to Cedar Crest. My father brought me back. When we arrived, all he did was to ______ me unload the car while I carried all the stuff to my room. Then I hugged and kissed him good-bye, and he ______. It was amazing to me ______ I just sent him home like that without wanting to hop back in the car. I guess all that I wanted was to be back in the safety of my ______ room and see all my ______ again.
I have been home once more ______. It still felt weird, but not as ______ as it did the first time. When it was time to go back to school for the ______ time, my father said: “So what do you want to do now?” My ______? “I want to go home!”______ I wanted to go back to school. I guess you could say, “There’s no ______ like home!”
1.A. illness B. homesickness C. sadness D. loneliness
2.A. For B. By C. Besides D. Except
3.A. that B. which C. who D. what
4.A. changed B. happened C. heard D. learned
5.A. Suddenly B. Fortunately C. Immediately D. Generally
6.A. took B. paid C. attended D. offered
7.A. lost B. spent C. made D. missed
8.A. although B. because C. so D. if
9.A. exactly B. actually C. patiently D. hopefully
10.A. tell B. push C. find D. help
11.A. arrived B. walked C. left D. came
12.A. why B. when C. how D. where
13.A. dorm B. reading C. class D. living
14.A. friends B. relatives C. books D. movies
15.A. before long B. soon after C. as usual D. since then
16.A. many B. much C. few D. little
17.A. present B. last C. first D. second
18.A. prediction B. response C. opinion D. suggestion
19.A. showing B. saying C. meaning D. asking
20.A. place B. room C. school D. home
Deleted Photos May Still Be on Your Phone
When you remove a photo from your cell phone, it may not be gone for good. That is great news if you accidentally delete an important photo. 1.
You may think when you tap the trashcan icon to delete a photo, that photo is no longer on your phone. But that may not be true. The photo may stay on your phone for a while to give you a chance to restore it.
So, it is important for you to know what happens to a photo when you send it to the trash.
When you tap the trash can icon on iPhone or iPad, you will see a confirmation.2. When you choose Delete, a notice tells you the photo will be deleted from all of your devices.
Your photo will disappear from view then and there.3. Instead, the image is sent to the Recently Deleted album in the Photos app where it remains for 30 days. During that time you can return a photo from the Recently Deleted album to your phone. You can also choose to delete it permanently.
To find the Recently Deleted album, open the Photos app. (hen tap Albums in the bottom menu. Swipe to find the Recently Deleted album. Tap on the Recently Deleted album to find the photos you have deleted within the past 30 days.4.
If you decide you want to keep a photo or delete it at that moment, tap Select in the upper right comer of the screen. Then tap the photo you want to keep or delete so a check mark appears. Tap Delete or Recover at the bottom of the screen to delete the photo or add it back into the app.
If you choose to delete a photo from the Recently Deleted album, you will be asked to confirm your choice. You will also be warned: “This photo will be deleted.5.”
A. The menu will appear.
B. But it is not truly gone.
C. This action cannot be undone.
D. It asks if you want to delete or cancel.
E. Choose photos you want to either delete or restore.
F. But it could be a big problem if a photo you wanted to delete is still on your phone.
G. On each photo will be a number representing the days left until the photo is deleted permanently.
On Sunday, March 11, most Americans will set their clocks forward an hour, as daylight saving time (sometimes wrongly called daylight savings time) begins and most of the United States can enjoy an extra hour of daylight. The spring and fall clock changes continue a long tradition started by Benjamin Franklin to conserve energy.
Benjamin Franklin lakes the honor (or the blame, depending on your view of the lime changes) for coming up with the idea to reset clocks in the summer months as a way to conserve energy. By moving clocks forward, people could take advantage of the extra evening daylight rather than wasting energy on lighting. At the time, Franklin was ambassador to Paris and so wrote a letter to the Journal of Paris in 1784, rejoicing over his “discovery” that the sun provides light as soon as it rises.
Even so, DST (Daylight Saving Time) didn’t officially begin until more than a century later. Germany established DST in May 1916 as a way to conserve fuel during World War I. The rest of Europe came onboard shortly thereafter. And in 1918, the United States adopted DST.
Though President Woodrow Wilson wanted to keep daylight saving time after WWI ended, the country was mostly rural at the time and farmers objected, partly because it would mean they lost an hour of morning light. And so daylight saving time was abolished until at the start of WWII, on Feb. 9, 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt re-established daylight saving time year- round, calling it “War Time.”
After the war, a free-for-all system in which U.S. states and towns were given the choice of whether or not to observe DST led to disorder. And in 1966, to avoid such “Wild West” confusion, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act. That federal law meant that any state observing DST — and they didn’t have to jump on the DST system — had to follow a uniform timing system throughout the state in which daylight saving time would begin on the first Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October.
Then, in 2007, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 went into effect, expanding the length of daylight saving lime to the present timing.
1.What is the passage mainly about?
A. What is Daylight Saving Time?
B. How did Daylight Saving Time start?
C. Who proposed Daylight Saving Time?
D. Why Daylight Saving Time is adopted?
2.It can be inferred that .
A. DST was adopted in the US mainly to preserve fuel
B. DST lasted for 24 years in the US before being canceled
C. it is still free for the states in the US to adopt the DST or not
D. farmers in the US rejected DST for losing an hour of evening light
3.What is the meaning of the underlined expression “rejoicing over” in paragraph 2?
A. Taking pride in. B. Taking interest in.
C. Feeling regret for. D. Feeling surprised about.
4.Which country adopted DST earliest, according to the passage?
A. France. B. Germany.
C. England. D. The United States.
In third-world countries such as Swaziland and Haiti, a $ 15-dollar invention is making a world of difference. Nokero, a company started by Brian Rants, sells lamps that do not require kerosene (蓖麻油). These solar lamps have become a staple (主流产品) in countries in Africa, to provide light for reading and safety at night.
Nokcro has sold over 500,000 lamps in over 120 countries since it was first founded in 2010 and Rants thinks the demand for his product will only continue to increase. Most lamps found in third-world countries currently require kerosene to run. but kerosene causes indoor pollution and has been linked to fires that have caused over a million deaths.
Instead of experiencing the effects of smoking 40 cigarettes a day from kerosene lamps, Rants thinks his solar lamps could be the answer for third-world countries. The Economist agrees, calling solar lights “the next big innovation for the world’s poor”. Nokero’s solar lamps are higher in quality and less expensive than a lot of solar technology, making them a practical option for many people in third world countries.
Rather than giving solar lamps to individuals in need. Nokero’s mission is to make them affordable. Through research Rants has realized that individuals who buy a solar product take better care of it and value it more than if they had received it for free. Families who buy Nokero’s solar lamps make up the cost in just a few months of not having to buy kerosene or pay for off-the-grid electricity.
Some activists have attacked companies such as Nokero for selling products to the poor rather than simply giving them out for free. They argue that these companies unfairly profit off the poor. However, Rants disagrees. Families receive a product that is much higher in quality than what they might receive for free and feel a sense of ownership having purchased it for themselves.
1.What do we know about the solar lamps in the passage?
A. They save energy and cause no pollution.
B. They equal the effect of 40 cigarettes a day.
C. They are given to the individuals free of charge.
D. They help to save kerosene in third-world countries.
2.According to Rants, if the poor arc given the lamps for free, they .
A. will have to pay for kerosene or electricity
B. will not take good care or value the lamps
C. will feel a sense of ownership of the lamps
D. won’t help to increase the sales of the lamps
3.What is paragraph 3 mainly about?
A. An innovation of the world.
B. Advantages of the solar lights.
C. Solution to world’s poverty problems.
D. Heavy pollution caused by kerosene lamps.
4.Which word describes Brian Rants?
A. Honest. B. Thoughtful.
C. Charitable. D. Greedy.
Like a lot of young people. Joanna Rakoff took the first job she was offered. She decided to work at one of New York’s oldest literary agencies. Yet she had no idea that it would be the first stepping stone on the way to becoming a writer, and later, the novelist she is today.
In the face of the ups and downs, she gave it her all. She can still remember that her boss was very challenging. “The thing that worked when my boss was being difficult was remembering it wasn’t personal. Usually, it’s not about you, it’s them,” she advises anyone in a similar situation.
Being a manager and editor herself later in her career also helped to make sense of what happened years before. “It’s really hard managing a lot of people. I had a lot more sympathy for my former boss after that. You don’t know everything that’s going on with them, and remember: they’re a person, too,” she says.
After only a year, Rakoff realized she was not “an agency person” as her manager had believed, but the seed had been planted. She left with dreams of becoming a writer and a real understanding of the world of glossy (亮丽光鲜的) magazines.
Rakoff rose from writing magazine articles to features editor, and later editor-in-chief. Dreams of one day writing fiction remained. “Writing pieces for magazines really helped me to become an author. It helped make writing less scary. When you write regularly and have deadlines, it really teaches you that sometimes you have to sit down and just do it,” she says.
With all the pressure on young people these days, it is important to remember you don’t have to be in the perfect job right away. What’s more, you don’t need to know what you want to be or do for a career as soon as you finish high school or college. Rakoff explains how many of her very successful friends found different paths toward becoming fiction writers. There is nothing wrong with having a job to keep you busy and pay the bills while you figure out your passions, she says.
1.When Joanna Rakoff was offered the first job. she .
A. gave it up to seek for some better opportunities
B. left it at once because the boss was too demanding
C. agreed to work for the old literacy agency in New York
D. accepted it believing it would lead to her future success
2.How could Rakoff understand her boss in the literary agency?
A. She thought her boss was under great pressure.
B. She believed her boss expected her to work better.
C. She knew her colleagues were doing well enough.
D. She became a manager and editor herself later on.
3.Rakoff left the literary agency with the ambition of .
A. working as a manager
B. writing for magazines
C. becoming a fiction writer
D. being an agency person
4.What can we learn from Rakoff’s experience?
A. The grass is always greener on the other side.
B. Keep on what you are doing until you succeed.
C. Land the best job as soon as you graduate from college.
D. A seemingly imperfect job may as well lead to success.
