Do you have a spare room in your house? What about a driveway for your car? Both of these can help you make money.Many people who are feeling the pinch are taking advantage of what’s been called the “sharing economy”.
Perhaps the best-known example of a company in this field is Airbnb---an American web business which allows you to rent out your spare room to holidaymakers.It says it operates in 34,000 cities and it has over 1,500,000 listings.It seems to have concerned the market!
A British company is doing something with parking spaces.JustPark’s founder, Anthony Eskinazi, says ,“When I had the original idea,Ispotted a driveway close to a sports stadium.It would have been so convenient if I could have just parked in that driveway rather than in commercial car park.” And he has a big clientele（客户）:around 20,000 people have advertised their spaces on the site,and he says around half a million drivers use it.There are other sites doing very similar things,like Uber and Lyft---these let drivers share their cars with other passengers.Any driver knows how valuable a place to park is .A church near Kings Cross in central London has apparently made over £200,000 by renting out space in its yard to travelers!
Because this is a new business world,those rules aren’t there yet and many people are happy to share...as long as it pays!
But the sharing economy has its critics:the competitors of these new companies.People who run things like traditional B&B, commercial car parks and taxi services are afraid of ending up out of pocket.And there is another issue:regulations on these new business are unclear.How will renting out your driveway affect your neighbor?
1.What does the underlined phrase “feeling the pinch” probably mean?
A. Lacking in money B. Full of curiosity
C. Willing to help others D. Unsatisfied with their life
2.Who may be against the sharing economy?
A. A taxi driver who can’t find a a parking place B. A priest in the church near Kings Cross
C. A traveller who needs accomodiation D. A well-known high-end holiday hotel
3.Why are many people pleased to share according to paragraph 4?
A. They can gain huge profits B. They needn’t pay any fee
C. There are few rules to limit them D. The new business has no risks
4.Which of the following words can best describe the booming business?
A. Creative and developed B. Competitive but unpractical
C. Effective and worrying D. Traditional and acceptable
Eighty-five-year old Chinese pharmacologist(药理学家) Tu Youyou became China’s first winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine when it was announced that she was one of three scientists awarded the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their work in developing effective drugs against parastic diseases.
Tu was honored for developing artemisin（青蒿素）,a drug for malaria that has saved millions of lives across the globe,especially in the developing world,the Nobel Assembly at karolinska Institue disclosed on its website on Monday.Tu,a Chinese trained pharmacologist and a researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in Beijing,went to Stockholm,Sweden in December to receive her award,according to Cao Hongxin,the science and techology department head of the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
"She was calm and said she has received lots of congratulatory calls." Cao told China Daily on Monday after he telephoned Tu to congratulate her."It’s an overdue（迟来的）honor for Tu and the world’s recognition of traditional Chinese medicine," he said.
"Tu’s breakthrough in winning the Nobel Prize in a natural science is the pride of the whole nation and the whole Chinese scientific community," said Zhou Dejin,spokesman of the Chinese Academy of Science,China’s national research body that consists of more than one hundred research insistutes,universities and research branches,
"The achievement of discovering artemisinin was made in the 1970s,but it only received international recognition in later years ,which suggests that we might have more achievements that have reached the Nobel Prize level but have not been recognized." Zhou said.
1.Why was Tu Youyou awarded the Nobel Prize?
A. She made a breakthrough in the Chinese scientific community
B. She came up with a revolutionary theory about medicine
C. She devoted her whole life to medicine research
D. She developed a very effective drug in the 1970s
2.What do we know about Tu Youyou ?
A. She secretly accepted the Nobel Prize by herself
B. She 's the second Chinese to win the 2015 Nobel Prize
C. She has an ordinary heart though winning the Nobel Prize
D. She won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with three scientists
3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A. China lacks talented scientists like Tu Youyou
B. Tu’s achievement was recognized by the world a long time ago
C. Chinese scientists should work harder to win more Nobel Prizes
D. More Chinese scientific achievements should be acknowledged
4.What type of writing does this passage belong to?
A. A scientific report B. An official document
C. A news report D. A medical record
Weighing too much can damage your health,and obesity is a growing problem for both kids and adults around the world.Sleep might be one answer to the problem.A new study has found that elementary school students who slept too little were more likely to gain pounds.
Past studies have shown a link between sleeping less and weighing more,but scientists have had a tough time determining "which came first,the chicken or the egg," says Julie C. Lumeng of the university of Michigan in Ann Arbor.In other words,it hasn't been clear whether kids who weigh too much have trouble sleeping,or whether sleeping less leads to weight gain.Both scenarios (可能出现的情况) seemed equally possible.
To get a better idea of which causes which,Lumeng and her colleagues interviewed the parents of 785 third graders from around the United States.The parents answered questions about how well their kids slept that year.Three years later,the parents answered the same questions.By sixth grade ,18percent of kids involved in the study were obese.
The scientists found no relationship between weight and the students' race or gender.It also didn't matter how strict their parents were,or whether they were boys orgirls.Obesity struck all of these groups equally.Instead,sleep seemed to be the key factor.Over the three years of study,the children averaged a healthy 9.5 hours of sleepa night.Some kids,however,slept a lot moreor less than others.
For the sixth graders,every hour of sleep above the 9.5houraverage was linked toa 20 percent lower risk of being obese.Sleep appeared doubly important for the third graders.Every extra hour of sleep they got was linked to a 40 percent drop in obesity.
1.What does the underlined sentence on paragraph 2 imply?
A. Scientists have found the exact causes of children's obesity.
B. There is always something difficult to understand through theory
C. The cause–effect relationship between weight and sleep isn't clear.
D. A person's weight has something to do with the amount of his sleep.
2.What did the interview find out?
A. 9.5 hours of sleep a night is enough for children.
B. The more a child sleeps,the healthier he will be.
C. Sixth graders need much more sleep than third graders.
D. One’s race or gender has nothing to do with his weight.
3.How does the author develop the passage?
A. By listing figures B. By comparing different opinions
C. By providing examples D. By conducting a survey
4.What is the suitable title for the passage?
A. The benefits of enough sleep for children
B. Sleeping less increases the risk of obesity
C. Which comes first,little sleep or obesity
D. How many hours of sleep do children need?
Everest
121min Adventure/Biography/Drama
Storyline: A group of climbers start their final climb to the summit of Mount Everest，the highest point on Earth. With little warning，a violent storm strikes the mountain，swallowing the adventurers...
Director: Baltasar Kormakur
Stars:Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa, Thomas M.Wright
Add to watchlist
War Room
120min Drama
Storyline: Tony and Elizabeth Jordan, seemingly have it all--great jobs, a beautiful daughter, their dream home. In reality, their marriage has been a war zone. With guidance from Miss Clara, an older, wiser woman, Elizabeth discovers she can start fighting for her family instead of against them.
Director: Alex Kendrick
Stars: Priscilla C. Shirer, T.C. Stalligs, Karen Abercrombie
Add to watchlist
Straight Outta Compton
147min Biography/Drama/Music
Storyline: In 1987,five young men, using honest rhymes, put their frustration and anger about life into the most powerful weapon they had: their music. Straight Outta Compton tells the true story of how these cultural rebels（叛逆者）stood up to the authorities that meant to keep them down and formed the world’s most dangerous group N.W.A.
Director: F. Gary Gray
Stars: O’Shea Jackson Jr., Corey Hawkins, Jason Mitchell
Add to watchlist
A Walk In The Woods
104min Adventure/Biography/Comedy
Storyline: After spending two decades in England, Bill Bryson returns to the US, where he decides the best way to connect with his homeland is to hike the Appalachian Trail. He travels with Katz, one of his oldest friends. The trouble is that the two have a completely different definition of the word, “adventure”. The real fun begins...
Director: Ken Kwapis
Stars: Robort Redford, Nick Nolte, Emma Thompson
Add to watchlist
1.If you prefer family-themed movies, which one should see?
A. Everest B. War Room
C. Straight Outta Compton D. A Walk In The Woods
2.What is N.W.A according to the passage?
A. A movie club B. A music group
C. An adventure team D. A charity organization
3.Why does Bill Bryson hike the Appalachain Trail?
A. To accompany his friend Katz B. To exercise and keep himself fit
C. To strengthen his bond with the US D. To have an adventure in the woods
假设你是李华，你的美国笔友Tom给你写信，说他暑假要来北京，参加一个关于老北京胡同的中国文化研究课程，请你先介绍一下胡同的基本情况。
内容要点如下：
1. 胡同的历史由来；
2. 胡同的社会价值和意义；
注意：1. 词数不少于100；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 注意语言的交际性和逻辑的条理性；
4. 邮件的开头和结尾已为你写好，不计入总词数。
提示词：胡同alley 四合院courtyard
Dear Tom，
I’m glad to receive your e-mail.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
Have a good time!
Sincerely,
Li Hua
根据句意，选择适当的词并用其恰当的形式填空。每空只填一个词。
1.This is a new invention that will have a wide range of ___________ in industry.
2.Sam has been ___________ manager of the engineering department to take the place of George.
3.This magazine makes complex ideas attractive and ___________ to children.
4.The man of true ___________ is not frightened by death.
5.Some people prefer to go out for traveling since it can increase their knowledge and ___________ their horizons.
6.It is not socially ___________ for parents to leave children unattended at that age.
7.Wherever you go, you should take care of your personal ___________.
8.Harry Potter stories are so ___________ that they encourage children to read more.
9.There was a ___________ expression on her face.
10.The trees ___________ down in the storm have been moved off the road.
