Plan on traveling around the USA this summer? If you need help in arranging the trip, or want ideas about where to go and what to do, there are a number of outstanding websites that can make your American dream come true.
http://byways.org The National Scenic Byways Program covers 150 memorable roads. Some are natural routes, such as Route 1 along the California coast. Others focus on history (such as Route 6) or man-made attractions (the Las Vegas Strip). For each, you are provided with a map, told the route’s length and how long is allowed, and given detailed suggestions on sights and stop-offs. |
www.oyster.com This is the best website for reviews of hotels in US cities and resorts. The reviews are impressively thorough, covering locations, rooms, cleanliness, food and so on. Importantly, these are not promotional photos by the hotels, but more honest and real ones taken by inspectors. Search facilities are excellent from the 243 hotels reviewed in the New York, you can narrow down what you are looking for by locations, facilities and styles, or just pick out a selection of the best. |
www.101 usaholidays.co.uk This is the latest offering that features 101 holiday ideas to the USA. It’s an impressively diverse selection, ranging from touring in the footsteps of Martin Luther King to a golfing break in Arizona and a cycling and wine-tasting trip in California’s Napa Valley. Narrow down what you are looking for — whether by price, region, theme and who will be traveling — and then just the photos of the relevant holidays remain on view. It’s a really clever design. |
www.mousesavers.com Walt Disney World in California can make dreams come true, but the price is not affordable for the majority of people. So turn to long established Mouscsavers.com, dedicated to giving big discounts on tickets, hotels and dining at Walt Disney World. The website also offers general money-saving tips, suggestions for cheap and free stuff and brief coverage of other Florida and California theme parks. |
1.If you are going to the USA for the man-made attractions, you can drive along ________.
A. Route 1 B. Route 6
C. the Las Vegas Strip D. the California coast
2.Why are the photos of the hotels in US cities and resorts real in www.oyster.com?
A. Because there are qualifications of the authority.
B. Because they are taken by inspectors of the website.
C. Because there are comments of customers on each photo....
D. Because they were taken by customers who once lived there.
3.Travel ideas for a big family with kids and the old are available at ________.
A. www.oyster.com B. http://byways.org
C. www.mousesavers.com D. www.101 usaholidays.co.uk
4.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. California’s Napa Valley is famous for its wine.
B. www.mousesavers.com is a newly established website.
C. The National Scenic Byways Program covers all the roads in the USA.
D. Discounted tickets of Walt Disney World are not available for everyone.
Every week in China, millions of people will sit in front of their TVs watching teenagers compete for the title Character Hero, which is a Chinese-style spelling bee (拼写大赛). In this challenge, young competitors must write Chinese characters by hand. To prepare for the competition, the competitors usually spend months studying dictionaries.
Perhaps the show’s popularity should not be a surprise. Along with gunpowder and paper, many Chinese people consider the creation of Chinese calligraphy (书法) to be one of their primary contributions to civilization. Unfortunately, all over the country, Chinese people are forgetting how to write their own language without computerized help. Software on smart phones and computers allows users to type in the basic sound of the word using the Latin alphabet. The correct character is chosen from a list The result? It’s possible to recognize characters without remembering how to write them.
But there’s still hope for the paint brush. China’s Education Ministry wants children to spend more time learning how to write.
In one Beijing primary school we visited, students practice calligraphy every day inside a specially decorated classroom with traditional Chinese paintings hanging on the walls. Soft music plays as a group of six-year-olds dip brush pens into black ink. They look up at the blackboard often to study their teacher’s examples before carefully attempting to reproduce those characters on thin rice paper. “If adults can survive without using handwriting, why bother to teach it now?” we ask the calligraphy teacher, Shen Bin, “The ability to write characters is part of Chinese tradition and culture,” she reasons. “Students must learn now so they don’t forget when they grow up.” says the teacher.
1.What can we learn about the Character Hero? ________
A. It’s the most-viewed TV programs in China.
B. It’s open to people of all ages and all walks.
C. It draws great public attention across the country.
D. It aims to spread Chinese culture to the world.
2.Why are Chinese people forgetting how to write the characters?
A. Chinese people are using the Latin alphabet instead of the characters.
B. Chinese people no longer use brush pens or practice calligraphy.
C. Chinese people needn’t write by hand as often with the help of technology.
D. Chinese people don’t refer to dictionaries very often.
3.According to Shen Bin, being able to write characters by hand is ________.
A. helpful to keep Chinese tradition and culture alive
B. a requirement made by the Education Ministry
C. necessary for adults to survive in China
D. an ability to be developed only when you are students
4.Where does this text probably come from? ________
A. A science report. B. A news report.
C. Children’s literature. D. An advertisement.
今年一月，孝感遭遇极寒天气，暴雪肆虐，持续时间较长，让我们感受到了大自然的威力。为了大家的安全，部分老师和同学主动在校园、走廊等处铲冰、扫雪、铺防滑垫等，为大家做好安全服务。假定你是李华，请你给Xiaogan Daily的编辑写一封信，要点如下：
1. 描述志愿者们助人为乐的事迹；
2. 表达你对这些志愿者的感激和欣赏；
3. 呼吁大家向他们学习，积极参与有利他人的活动。
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3. 书信的开头和结尾已写好，不计入总词数。
参考词汇： 走廊corridor; 铲冰shovel ice; 防滑垫 non-slip mat
Dear Editor,
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Best wishes.
Yours,
Li Hua
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，要求你在错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
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词。
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Last weekend, my parents and I went to visit my grandparents who live in the countryside. See us, my grandparents were very happy. I particular like their garden, where is full of vegetables and flowers. They also raise chickens, goose, cats, and dogs. Although the dogs and the cats was very friendly to me, but the chickens attacked me.
My grandma prepare a big dinner for us and most of the dishes came the garden. We all liked the pollution-free vegetables. When we left, my grandpa picked a lot of fruits or vegetables from the garden for us to take home. I love their grandparents and the garden, too.
Marty is a disabled boy 1. suffers from a muscle disease. Sometimes he is too weak 2.(run) or climb stairs as quickly as other people. The doctors don’t know 3. (exact) what is wrong with him. Luckily, Marty has learned to adapt 4. his disability. In order to make his life happy and 5. (satisfy), Marty keeps busy doing things that do not require physical strength. He has friends with 6. he can go to movies and football matches and he has lots of pets. He used to dream of one day being a famous football player and 7. (represent) his country in the World Cup. Even when he is made fun of, he doesn’t get 8. (annoy). Disabled 9. he is, Marty has become stronger and more independent. He never feels sorry for himself and he enjoys as rich and full a life as everyone else.
He suggests that we normal people should give the disabled 10. (encourage) rather than laugh at them.
As my husband, Doug, stood on the busy New York city street trying to stop a taxi, I tried to protect my daughter from the cold December wind and rain. I put my head down to kiss her tiny face.
___ and wet, my husband gave up his attempt to flag down a taxi. I knew the ____. Just after her first birthday, we were told our daughter Katie has a ____ brain illness. Since that moment, Doug and I felt like runners in a marathon race where the finish line kept ______. We knew Katie was running out of ____. It had taken months before we finally had a name for the ____, but we were told only a few of specialists in the world knew how to _____ it. Now, as we finally found a brilliant doctor to ____ our girl, we were in a strange ____ in the cold rain.
Just at the moment, a middle-aged woman pulled over and said, “Pardon me? May I offer you a(n) ____?” Before we could say anything, she continued, “It’s really no ____ for me. Just get in.”It was then that I noticed her thick Irish accent, which ____ me up like hot soup. We simply said, “Thanks! Roosevelt Hospital, please,” as we got in her car for the ride.
“Are you going ____ the baby?”she asked us. I nodded my head, holding back my ____. At the hospital, we ____ her a dozen times for the ride. As the woman hugged me, I______her face was wet with tears. She promised to ____ for us before she left.
After three more visits to New York and two more ____ operations, Erica is cured. But the_____ of the Irish Angel still rang as a constant reminder of a tiny ray of light that appeared in our_____ days.
1.A. Excited B. Frustrated C. Worried D. Satisfied
2.A. feeling B. spirit C. message D. sense
3.A. simple B. rare C. normal D. natural
4.A. coming B. lowering C. disappearing D. running
5.A. courage B. confidence C. money D. time
6.A. race B. illness C. doctor D. challenge
7.A. explain B. check C. reach D. treat
8.A. protect B. meet C. save D. encourage
9.A. country B. hospital C. town D. city
10.A. ride B. seat C. car D. umbrella
11.A. trouble B. difference C. question D. loss
12.A. picked B. called C. warmed D. woke
13.A. to B. for C. after D. with
14.A. surprise B. anger C. smile D. tears
15.A. thanked B. praised C. respected D. accepted
16.A. guessed B. believed C. understood D. noticed
17.A. work B. sing C. drive D. pray
18.A. eye B. brain C. kidney D. heart
19.A. voice B. bravery C. reward D. advice
20.A. busiest B. 1uckiest C. darkest D. happiest
