Imagine waking up one day and finding that your beautiful local beach is no more—gone, its fine white sand swept away by an abnormal storm. You go about your daily business for 12 long years and then suddenly the beach is back, all its glory restored by another storm. This is what happened on the island of Achill, off the coast of Ireland, where people are celebrating the return of the beautiful Ashleam Bay beach that was taken from them in 2005.
That in itself is unusual enough, but the story gets even better! You see, another beach in Achill did a disappearing act once, but took much longer to return. The beach at Doonagh, located only six miles away from Ashleam Bay, was restored earlier in 2016 after waves created by spring storms had swept away all the sand in 1984, leaving just rock pools behind.
There is local legend that stretches back hundreds of years that says this beach at Ashlcam Bay returns for a short every seven years then disappears again. But this time around it took a bit longer than that. It was last seen in 2005 and it stayed for a few months at that time before it was washed away again.
As you can imagine, everyone on the island of Achill is thrilled to have their sandy beach back, and even though no one knows how long it’s going to be around for, they are making the most of the time they’ve got before it disappears again.
Some may be quick to believe climate changes cause the phenomenon, but that’s not the reason these two beaches in Achill keep disappearing, Dr Kevin Lynch, a geographer at NUT Galway, says that these occurrences are the result of hydrodynamics (流体力学) and sediment(沉积物) supply, rather than climate changes.
Regardless of what’s causing them, disappearing and reappearing beaches are just part of what makes nature so fascinating.
1.What is people’s reaction to the return of the Ashleam Bay beach?
A. Full of fear.
B. Quite delighted.
C. Very disappointed.
D. Extremely con fused.
2.What can we learn about the beach at Doonagh?
A. It is not located in Ireland.
B. It disappeared 12 years ago.
C. It once disappeared for more than 30 years.
D. It is just made up of rocks and pools.
3.According to the local legend, when should the Ashleam Bay beach have come back?
A. In 1982.
B. In 2012.
C. In 2016.
D. In 2018.
4.What does Dr Kevin Lynch think of the phenomenon?
A. Some abnormal storms lead to ocean’s enlargement,
B. It is hard to uncover the mystery of beach’s disappearing.
C. Climate changes can result in beaches disappearing completely.
D. Hydrodynamics and sediment supply cause two beaches to disappear.
Durian(榴莲) is probably the smelliest fruit in the world, letting out an unusual unpleasant smell which would make anyone bring up. However, nobody was aware of what gave this fruit its unique smell, so a team of researchers from Singapore decided to take a look at its genome (基因组) and find out,
Durian is well-known throughout Southeast Asia as the king of fruits, mostly because of its awful appearance and smell. However, the origin of this unpleasant smell was unknown, so researchers decided to map the genome of the fruit, and find the gene that controlled it. A group of genes, volatile sulfur compounds (含硫化合物), became very active in the fruit, and they were found responsible for resulting in the unpleasant smell.
The fruit confuses everyone with a sulfuric smell, like rotten onions and ingredients. The smell lasts long, mostly because the fruit contains more volatile sulfur compounds. Other species usually benefit from two gene copies at most, but durian has four, leading to the striking smell.
However, this smell might be an advantage for durian in the wild. Although we find it unpleasant, many animals might be attracted by it. If they eat the fruit, then they can easily spread its seeds everywhere, thus contributing to the distribution of the species.
The mapping of the durian genome also showed some other information on the species. First of all, the fruit has an impressive number of genes, namely 46,000. Also, with the help of these genes, they saw how it evolved, and discovered it was related to the cacao tree. All the other discoveries have been published in the journal Nature Genetics.
Despite the striking smell, many people actually enjoy eating the fruit. However, not all durian species are edible, and some of them may even cause damage to our health, Even so, the fruit is often imported, significantly contributing to the economy.
1.What give durian its unique smell?
A. Onions nearby.
B. Two gene copies.
C. Rotten ingredients in it.
D. Volatile sulfur compounds.
2.What does the underlined word “evolved” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?
A. Developed.
B. Escaped.
C. Predicted.
D. Tolerated.
3.What can we infer from the text?
A. No birds enjoy eating durian.
B. Durian can be planted all over the world.
C. Some of durian species can not be eaten.
D. Durian has no relationship with the cacao tree.
4.What’s the best title for the text?
A. What’s Durian?
B. The Influence of the Smell
C. The Distribution of Durian
D. The Mystery of the Unpleasant Smell of Durian
Dutch beachcomber (海滩拾荒者) Wim Kruiswijk has accumulated a collection of 1,200 messages-in-bottles over the course of nearly 4 decades and has responded to almost all of them,
68-year-old Kruiswijk says that his unusual hobby began in 1983 when he found three drift bottles (漂流瓶) on his local beach, each containing letters and return addresses. He wrote to all three addresses and was surprised to receive responses from each one. It was this experience that aroused his interest in hunting and collecting messages in bottles, and he hasn’t stopped looking for them since.
“I find my messages in bottles on the beach of Zandvoort, where I live, and on the Dutch Islands,” Kruiswijk recently told Great Big Story. “Messages in bottles is slow mail. It takes you days, or weeks, or months to find a bottle. ”
In the early years, Kruiswijk would find as many as 50 bottles a year, but since 2000 that has slowed to around 20-30 finds, mainly due to beach cleaning efforts. He believes that the rise of the Internet has also played a role in the diminishing number of messages in bottles, telling Dutch news site PZC, “I used to get a response at half the bottle messages that I answered. Now that’s less; many people want ‘instant satisfaction’.”
Throwing a message in a bottle out into the sea is a longstanding human tradition dating back to the time of the Greek philosopher Theophrastus, about 310 BC，who used the bottles to study water currents. Scientists still apply the method to this day, as a means to help researchers develop ocean circulation maps, and to crowdsource scientific studies of ocean currents.
In the past bottles have also been used to send distress messages from sailors in trouble. They also have been used for memorial tributes, or to send loved ones’ ashes on a final journey. One of the more common uses though is just to send invitations out to prospective pen pals, a quaint notion in these modern times, but, as Kruiswijk so clearly shows, an effective one.
1.What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us?
A. Kruiswijk found secrets hidden in drift bottles.
B. What made Kruiswijk become a beachcomber.
C. How Kruiswijk formed the hobby of collecting drift bottles.
D. Kruiswijk liked to do some research on bottles thrown into the sea.
2.How did Kruiswijk feel the first time he received response from drift bottles?
A. Satisfied.
B. Asionished.
C. Frightened.
D. Disappointed.
3.Why do Kruiswijk find fewer drift bottles than before?
A. People hate to receive messages from strangers.
B. Many drift bottles have not been washed up onto the beaches.
C. Drift bottles appearing on the beach are cleared up rapidly.
D. Fewer people are interested in Kruiswijk’s message in bottles.
4.What’s the purpose of Theophrastus using the bottles?
A. To ask for rescue.
B. To look for a pen pal.
C. To study ocean currents.
D. To send a message to his loved person.
Destination Travels
78 Soho St,
New York, NY
Dear Ms Pierce,
Thank you for trusting Destination Travels for your honeymoon plans. This letter includes all the information regarding the flights and accommodation arrangements we have already agreed on.
Date | Flight No. | Place/Time Depart | Place/Time Arrive |
August 6 | UA 674 | New York, JFK 6:30 AM | Puerto Rico Int. Airport 9:00AM |
August 15 | UA 673 | Puerto Rico Int. Airport 1:00 PM | New York, JFK 3:30 PM |
On arriving at Puerto Rico Int, Airport, a representative of The Caribbean Hotels &Resorts will be waiting for you in order to transfer you to the hotel. The transfer to and from the airport is offered by the hotel as part of your honeymoon package. The reservation has been made for a nine-night stay under your future husband’s last name. The price of the newlyweds’ suite includes breakfast and one more meal at the hotel restaurant, You can also use all of the hotel facilities—pool, gym, sauna, etc. for free as part of your honeymoon package. In addition, you can take scuba diving or snorkeling classes with the hotels trained staff at a reduced price—40% off.
Thank you for choosing Destination Travels. We guarantee your honeymoon with us will be an unforgettable experience. To aid us in improving our service, please visit our website at www. destinationtravels.com and complete the questionnaire.
Destination Travels wish you all the best.
Sincerely.
Rebecca Simms
Customer Service Manager
Destination Travels
1.After arriving at Puerto Rico Int, Airport, the couple can get directions from ________.
A. a Destination Travels Manager’
B. an official of New York City Hall
C. a tourist information desk
D. a hotel worker
2.What service is offered by the hotel at no extra cost to the newlywed couple?
A. The snorkeling classes.
B. The airport express service.
C. A one-night stay.
D. The air tickets.
3.What does the customer service manager ask Ms Pierce to do?
A. Call the service department.
B. Complete the order form.
C. Scan the website to find information.
D. Fill out the customer satisfaction survey.
假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Edward正在学习汉语，希望你推荐一个适合。他学习汉语的网站。请你根据以下内容，给他回复邮件。
推荐网站: www. edchinese. com
网站内容:
1. 中文情景对话，中国风俗，中文电影，中文歌曲，成语和唐诗等。
2. 有在线教师答疑解惑。
注意:1. 词数100左右。
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
3. 开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。
Dear Edward,
I’m more than pleased to know that you are learning Chinese. I’d like to recommend www. edchinese. com to you.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
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词:
2.只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起) 不计分。
Mr. Johnson is a hardworking teacher. Every day, he spends too much time with his work. With little sleep and hardly any break, so he works from morning till night. Hard work have made him very ill. “He has ruined his healthy. We are worried about him.” That is which other teachers say. Yesterday afternoon. I paid visit to Mr. Johnson. I was eager to see him, but outside her room I stopped. I had to calm myself down. Quietly I step into the room. I saw him lying in bed, looking at some of the picture we had taken together. I understood that he missed us just as many as we missed him.
