Have you ever been to London? Which famous sites did you visit? Or, if it is the first time that you 1.(be) there, which one will you check out?
Some world famous 2.(culture) sites may already be on your list: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the London Tower. However, a tour of London would be incomplete 3. checking out the London art scene. As a guidebook London’s Secrets: Museums & Galleries put it, London’s art is a lot like 4. city itself — “diverse, vast, and in a constant state of changes. From old masters to street art and everything in between, London has it all.”
In fact, according to The Telegraph, museums and galleries were the most 5.(visit) attractions in Britain last year. The British Museum, 6. celebrated its 225th anniversary this year, had the most visitors, at 6,701,036.
According to The Art Newspaper, the British Museum’s increased 7.(popular) is down to its exhibitions, particularly its Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum show ( March-September 2017 ).
There are more than 7 million artifacts(文物) in the British Museum. Not all of them are on display, but much of the collection 8.(constant) rotates(轮换), so you’ll see something new with each visit. So,9. you’re an art lover or just looking for a fun time, you’re sure 10.(find) inspiration in London.
A group of children would gather frequently at each other’s homes. They___________what was happening in their lives. Their friendship was beautiful to see, and surprising thoughts flowed from these___________minds.
The mother of one of the children would occasionally join their_________and tell them stories. When she spoke of her “jewel box”, her most___________possession, she sent their___________soaring.
She emphasized that the jewel box was so___________that its contents could never be stolen! Of course, the children’s minds were ___________with dazzling pictures of diamonds, jewels, pearls, and other priceless items. They daydreamed of her being an heiress(继承人) of a___________family, even though her simple life did not___________vast material wealth.
One day the children asked her what was in the jewel box. Looking at the children’s ____________, upturned faces, she____________at each child, and then____________them to gather around her and sit on the grass. “Let me tell you a wonderful____________,” she whispered, “The jewel box is not a ____________ box!”
The children’s eyes were big with____________. The mother continued, “In reality, it is a ____________box of your heart. And everyone has one! Its____________are the feelings of love, joy, peace, gratitude, and faith. It is an inner experience, and the treasure of knowing which____________with you forever.”
The children asked many questions that day. Most of them never____________the story of the jewel box, and appreciated it more as they____________adulthood.
1.A. valued B. shared C. predicted D. desired
2.A. easy B. selfish C. young D. proud
3.A. gatherings B. associations C. campaigns D. revolutions
4.A. valueless B. practical C. valuable D. successful
5.A. creativity B. desire C. performance D. imagination
6.A. secure B. firm C. heavy D. perfect
7.A. loaded B. filled C. connected D. concerned
8.A. poor B. happy C. big D. rich
9.A. enjoy B. find C. cover D. indicate
10.A. simple B. familiar C. eager D. funny
11.A. shouted B. smiled C. pointed D. glared
12.A. asked B. agreed C. attracted D. forced
13.A. aim B. joke C. secret D. miracle
14.A. material B. precious C. right D. special
15.A. sadness B. expectation C. doubt D. embarrassment
16.A. field B. money C. treasure D. room
17.A. effects B. outcomes C. problems D. contents
18.A. cooperates B. stays C. communicates D. accompanies
19.A. forgot B. understood C. told D. guessed
20.A. went over B. looked back C. grew into D. congratulated on
Teachers love to put students into teams. 1. Why? Because they know the responsible team members will come through for a good grade.
If you are teamed up with a student who is lazy, the worst thing you can do is let it get you down. 2. and it might create a positive change in your partner!
Try these tips for working with a slacker(懒虫).
●Be excited and provide a good example. Your slacker may be a good person who has developed bad work habits. You may be able to teach your partner some valuable skills for a successful future.
●Think rewards! 3. For instance, you could promise to make cupcakes for the next work meeting and encourage your partner to bring a good snack.
●Make some time to sit with your partner and establish a set of work rules and deadlines. Don’t quarrel, though. Make it clear that you would like to establish rules to keep you both on track. 4. Keep a record of your rules, your initial meetings, and your work. When it becomes obvious in the records that you’re doing all the work, talk with the slacker. 5.
A. Don’t let the anger and pain defeat you.
B. Come up with a great reward for meeting some goal.
C. Instead, take some steps to encourage your partner to work.
D. Unavoidably one or more members will try to do nothing.
E. Start out by giving your partner a clear task with a deadline.
F. Show him/her the evidence and suggest he or she pick up the pace.
G. Think about the future and the fact that you are going to be rewarded.
Long before they can actually speak, babies pay special attention to the speech they hear around them. Within the first month of their lives, babies’ responses to the sound of the human voice will be different from their responses to other sorts of hearing stimulation. They will stop crying when they hear a person talking, but not if they hear a bell or the sound of a rattle. At first, the sounds that a baby notices might be only those words that receive the heaviest emphasis and that often occur at the ends of utterances(讲话，说话). By the time they are six or seven weeks old, babies can detect the difference between syllables pronounced with rising and falling tones. Very soon, these differences in adult stress and intonation can influence babies’ emotional states and behavior. Long before they develop actual language comprehension, babies can sense when an adult is happy or angry, attempting to begin or end new behavior, and so on, merely on the basis of clues such as the rate, volume, and melody of adult speech.
Adults make it as easy as they can for babies to pick up a language by exaggerating(夸张) such clues. One researcher observed babies and their mothers in six diverse cultures and found that, in all six languages, the mothers used simplified utterances and nonsense sounds, and transformed certain sounds into baby talk. Other researchers have noted that when mothers talk to babies who are only a few months old, they exaggerate the pitch, loudness, and intensity of their words. They also exaggerate their facial expressions, hold vowels(元音) longer, and emphasize certain words.
More significant for language development than their response to general intonation is observation that tiny babies can make relatively fine distinctions between speech sounds. In other words, babies enter the world with the ability to make those precisely perceptual（知觉的，感性的） recognition that are necessary if they are to acquire listening language.
Babies obviously obtain pleasure from sound input, too: even as young as nine months they will listen to songs or stories, although the words themselves are beyond their understanding. For babies, language is a sensory-motor delight rather than the route to boring meaning that it often is for adults.
1.The author mentions syllables with rising and falling tones to .
A. show how difficult it is for babies to interpret emotions
B. provide an example of ways adults speak to babies
C. give a reason for babies’ difficulty in telling one adult from another
D. show a six-week-old baby can already tell some language differences
2.What can be inferred about the findings described in Paragraph 2?
A. Mothers from different cultures speak to their babies in similar ways.
B. Babies ignore facial expressions in understanding listening language.
C. The mothers were unconsciously teaching their babies to speak.
D. Mothers only exaggerate their tones when talking to babies.
3.Why do babies listen to songs and stories, even if they can’t understand?
A. They understand the rhythm. B. They enjoy the sound.
C. They can remember them easily. D. They focus on the meaning.
4.What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Babies can detect sounds other than the human voice.
B. Babies’ ways to learn a language differ from adults’.
C. Babies can respond to the speech before they can speak.
D. Babies can tell the sound of the human voice from other sounds.
For hours after their boat sank, Ken Henderson and Coen trod(踏) water in the Gulf of Mexico, talking about life and death while struggling to survive. For more than 30 hours, it worked.
Then Henderson was forced to make a decision. “I’m going to go for help or you’re not going to make it,” Henderson told Coen, just before cutting the strap(带子) that connected them in the deep, cold waters. “I understand,”Coen responded, giving Henderson a last set of instructions, “Kiss my babies for me.”
Days after the fishing trip ended in tragedy, Henderson told the story for The Associated Press.
They had been fishing for a few hours when suddenly Coen noticed the boat was filling with water. Henderson got both motors roaring, only to have the saltwater that had leaked in break them straight away…Coen jumped to the right, his sunglasses and cap flying off. The two grabbed extra life jackets and other floating items, including a half full bottle of Diet Coke.
“The water was so cold and it took your breath away,” Henderson said. They immediately began to tremble.
The pair prepared for a long wait. And they talked.
“We discussed things and discussed life. We discussed families. We just tried to keep occupied,” Henderson said.
Eventually Coen started hallucinating(有幻觉). Henderson tried to keep Coen’s arms and legs moving. But as morning came, Coen’s situation worsened. And so Henderson decided to cut the strap.
He swam for two hours, tired, frustrated and depressed. Then he saw an oil rig(钻探平台) in the distance. He swam, seeing ice and crystal trees in the water. He reminded himself constantly there were no trees.
His legs was so weak that he could barely lift them. Henderson slowly pulled himself up the rig’s ladder.
It was over 50 miles from where they had gone in the water.
All he could think of was Coen. Convinced his friend would survive, he told the coast guard where they had parted.
Two hours later, a fisherman found a body in a life jacket.
Later, in the hospital, Henderson saw his friend. He apologized and asked for forgiveness. He promised to realize his wishes and look after his girls.
“I felt like a part of me had died out there,” Henderson said.
1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the article?
A. It was Henderson who first noticed something was wrong with the boat.
B. Everything the men did to get the boat to work made matters worse.
C. Henderson alone did what he could but it had little effect.
D. The men’s long discussion about life and death filled them with sadness.
2.After Henderson cut the strap and swam away, .
A. he regretted his decision to leave his friend
B. he knew he had a good chance of being saved
C. he had to fight against exhaustion and hallucinations
D. he got encouraged by remembering the talk with Coen
3.What can we conclude from the article?
A. Henderson tried to rescue both of them.
B. They kept talking because they felt excited.
C. Coen would have survived if he had believed in his friend.
D. Coen was unwilling to be left alone but he eventually agreed.
4.What kind of person is Henderson?
A. Strong-willed and loyal. B. Selfish but decisive.
C. Smart and creative. D. Experienced but indifferent.
Few of us haven’t read Cinderella, the story of a young woman living in poverty who meets the prince of her dreams. Some might not want to admit it, but there is a hidden Cinderella in everyone’s heart—we all wish we could achieve recognition or success after a period of obscurity or neglect.
Mary Santiago has that secret dream, too. Her story is featured in Another Cinderella Story, a film set in a US high school.
Mary is shy but loves to dance. Compared with other girls, she is invisible. However, her world changes completely when a famous teenager pop singer, Joey Parker, appears.
Joey is everything that the rest of the boys in her class are not — kind, handsome and desirable. Mary and Joey’s paths cross at a ball. They meet and fall in love with each other. But when Mary has to rush back home, she leaves behind her MP3 player, which becomes the only clue Joey has to find the girl of his dreams. Of course, there is a wicked(邪恶的) stepmother, who turns out to be Dominique Blatt and she takes in Mary after her dancer mother dies. Dominique treats Mary like a maid and does everything she can to make sure Mary doesn’t get into the top dance school. Her two daughters are equally determined to stop Joey falling for Mary, even if that means embarrassing her.
The story, though it mostly follows Cinderella, does add a few modern day twists to the classic fairy tale. Refreshingly, the film, unlike many high school films, does not focus on looks, although the actors are all beautiful. There is also a lot less materialism in Another Cinderella Story than in many similar movies.
“The movie takes the Cinderella fairytale as its jumping off point,” writes the movie critic Amber Wilkinson. “The focus is firmly on following your dream.”
1.In the movie, Mary Santiago _____________.
A. is brave in expressing her love B. has a dream of meeting a prince
C. is badly treated by the stepmother D. is embarrassed by the pop singer
2.What does the underlined word in Paragraph1 probably mean？
A. being popular B. being selfish C. being famous D. being unknown
3.According to the passage, Another Cinderella Story ________.
A. follows Cinderella with nothing new special
B. encourages young people to follow their dreams
C. pays more attention to the looks of the actors
D. focuses more on materialism than other films
4.The passage is mainly about ___________.
A. a fairy tale B. an essay about dreams
C. a film review D. an advertisement of a film
