Every evening Sylvie left her grandmother’s house at 5:30 to bring their cow home. The old animal spent her days out in the open country eating sweet grass. When the cow heard Sylvie’s voice calling her, she would hide among the bushes, unwilling to go home.
This evening it had taken Sylvie longer than usual to find her cow. The child hurried the cow through the dark forest, following a narrow path that led to her grandmother’s home.
“Hello, little girl,” a young man called out cheerfully. “I’ve been hunting for birds, but I’ve lost my way.” The young man explained he was a scientist, who searched for birds. “Do you put them in a cage?” Sylvie asked. “No,” he answered, “I shoot them and deal with them with special chemicals to preserve them.”
“I saw a white heron（苍鹭）not far from here two days ago. It’s very rare bird. Have you seen it, too?” he asked Sylvie. Sylvie’s heart began to beat fast. She knew that strange white bird! The young man was staring at Sylvie. “I would give 10 dollars to the person who showed me where the white heron is.”
Sylvie had a plan that she would get the 10 dollars for her grandmother and make the young man happy. Her plan was to climb to the top of a tall pine tree to see where the white heron had hidden its nest.
The pine tree seemed to grow taller, the higher that Sylvie climbed. Suddenly a bird with broad white wings flew past Sylvie and landed on a pine branch below her. The white heron sat on its nest in a nearby tree. Sylvie gave a long sigh. She knew the wild bird’s secret now. Slowly she began her dangerous trip down the ancient pine tree.
About an hour later Sylvie returned. Both her grandmother and the young man stood up as she came into the kitchen. The splendid moment to speak about her secret had come. But Sylvie was silent. She could not tell the heron’s secret and give its life away.
1.Where would Sylvie usually meet the cow every evening?
A. In the open country.
B. Among the forest.
C. On a narrow path.
D. In the bushes
2.What was the young scientist’s job according to his introduction?
A. Collecting birds
B. Raising birds
C. Observing birds
D. Protecting birds
3.What had Sylvie planned to do about the white bird?
A. make good friends with it.
B. prevent it from being caught.
C. find its nest but keep it secret.
D. find it for money and the man
4.What saved the white bird’s life at last?
A. Grandmother’s sympathy.
B. The white bird’s beauty.
C. Sylvie’s kindness.
D. The young man’s generosity.
Crossing your legs is an extremely common habit; most people don’t even notice that they’re doing it when they sit down. While you may find it comfortable to sit with one knee crossed over the other, it might be causing health problems that you are not aware of.
A study published in Blood pressure Monitoring stated that sitting with your legs crossed can increase your blood pressure. The reason for this is that the blood in your legs has to work against gravity to be pumped back to your heart and that crossing one leg over the other increases resistance, making it even harder for the blood to circulate. This causes your body to increase your blood pressure to push the blood back to the heart. You won’t feel any immediate effects, but repeated, drawn-out increases in blood pressure can cause long-term health issues. So, planning to sit for a long period of time? Don’t keep your legs crossed.
Crossing your legs at the knee can also cause pressure on the major nerve in your leg that passes just below your knee and along the outside of your leg, explains Richard Graves, a medical expert. This pressure can cause numbness and temporary paralysis（麻痹）of some of the muscles in your foot and leg, preventing you from being able to raise your ankle—what we know as that “pins and needles” sensation. While the feeling of discomfort may only last a minute or two, repeatedly crossing your leg until they feel numb can cause permanent nerve damage.
So next time you sit down, try to get yourself in the habit of sitting with both of your feet on the floor. Not only will it help your posture and stability, but it will also save your health in the long run.
1.According to the study, sitting with your legs crossed can ______.
A. affect your blood pressure
B. resist gravity effectively
C. lead to heart attacks easily
D. improve the function of legs
2.What can we learn about crossing one’s legs?
A. It is a very bad social habit.
B. It is usually practiced deliberately
C. It can do harm to people’s health.
D. It can make others feel uncomfortable.
3.In the third paragraph “pins and needles” probably means “_____”
A. slight sharp pains B. being a little nervous
C. serious muscle injuries D. being highly flexible
4.What is the main purpose of the text?
A. To compare common habits.
B. To give readers some advice.
C. To evaluate effects of an experiment.
D. To introduce research methods.
In between running one of the world’s largest charitable agencies and acting as Microsoft’s technology advisor, Bill Gates manages to find time to read books, both long and short. Now Gates --who has been labeled a “greedy” reader—has released a list of his favorite books of the year. All of the books are standout reads, according to the billionaire, most of which are focused on business and economy.
Here are Bill’s top four picks for the year (with parts of his full review of each book).
Business Adventures, by John Brooks
Brooks’ collection was published in 1969 and remains one of Gates’ favorites. He re-read it again this year, labeling it “the best business book I’ve ever read”.
“Shortly after we met, Warren Buffett lent me this collection of New Yorker business articles from the 1950s and 1960s. I loved them as much as he did. Brooks’ insights about business have aged beautifully, and they are as true today as ever.”
Capital in the Twenty-First Century, by Thomas Piketty
Piketty’s novel hit the shelves in August 2013 and sparked much discussion concerning income inequality throughout this year. Gates also got to sit down with Piketty himself after reading the non-fiction work to discuss the topic.
“As I told him, although I have concerns about some of his secondary points and policy prescriptions, I agree with his most important conclusions: inequality is a growing problem and that governments should play a role in reducing it.”
How Asia Works, by Joe Studwell
Studwell’s work, which was published in May this year, addresses how countries such as Japan, South Korea and China have continued to achieve high growth, and why other countries have failed to do the same.
“The agriculture section of the book was particularly insightful. It provided ample food for thought for me as well as the whole agriculture team at our foundation. And it left us thinking about whether parts of the Asian model can apply in Africa.
Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization, by Vaelav Smil
Smil’s books are a constant favorite of the Microsoft founder—one of his books makes Gates’ list almost every year. Making the Modern World came out late last year and explores the global use of materials, from silicon to wood, and plastic.
“If anyone tries to tell you we’re using fewer materials, send him this book. With his usual skepticism and his love of data, Smil shows how our ability to make things with less materials—say, soda cans that need less aluminum—makes them cheaper, which actually encourages more production.”
1.Of the books, ______ is best praised by Bill Gates.
A. How Asia Works
B. Capital in the Twenty-First Century
C. Business Adventures
D. Making the Modern World: Materials and Dematerialization
2.The books mentioned in the text are all about______.
A. charity in the world
B. business and economy
C. poverty in the world
D. Bill Gates’ life experience
3.In How Asia Works, the author analyses ______.
A. why African agriculture cannot be developed fast
B. How they can apply Asian economic model in African countries
C. why Asia is so slow in agricultural development
D. How some Asian countries have rapidly grown in economy
假设你是李华。英语口语课上，老师要求大家各自描述一下自己想象中的大学生活。请结合以下同学的观点，写一篇100词左右的英语短文谈谈你对大学生活的认识。
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
请根据上下文内容，将文中划线部分译成汉语或者英语。
Dubai is a large port city but it has a desert climate. In the past, Dubai was not a big city. Most of its citizens lived simple lives.1. 他们通过捕鱼挣钱 or dived for valuable ocean pearls. Until recently, most people in the area around Dubai lived the same way that they had lived for hundreds of years before.
All that changed in1966, 2..那时工人在迪拜发现了石油 At this time, the Maktoums were Dubai’s ruling family. 3.. Oil quickly brought them large amounts of wealth. But the family knew that the oil would not last forever. So they decided to put a lot of their money into other industries-like tourism and trade.
Now, tourism is a major industry in Dubai. Each year, millions of people come to visit the city. Many people come to see Dubai’s famous building projects. 4.. Dubai has the worlds tallest and highest priced hotel. It also has two sets of man-made islands. The Palm Islands(棕榈群岛)are a group of islands made in the shape of a date palm tree. Dubai’s World Islands look like a map of the world. And, 5..它们是如此之大以至于你在太空都能看得到！
下列句中各有一个错，请把错处改正。其他部分不得更动。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(∧)，并在下面横线上写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(\)划掉，在该行下面横线上写出该词，并也用斜线划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在下面横线上写出改正后的词。
1.Are you going to clean your room before and after supper?
2.She told me what she couldn't reach the apple on the desk.
3.When she entered into the hall, she saw many people talking there
4.You should remember to throwing away the bad food in the fridge
5.It was very dangerous because if I was caught I could put in prison
