Directions: Foreach blank in the following passage are four words or phrases marked A. B. Cand D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
Research hasshown that two-thirds of human conversation is taken up not with discussion ofthe cultural or political problems of the day, not heated debates about filmswe've just watched or books we've just finished reading, but plain and simple_____.
Language isour greatest treasure as a species, and what do we ______ do with it? Wegossip. About others' behaviour and private lives, such as who's doing whatwith whom, who's in and who's out——and why; how to deal with difficult______ situations involving children, lovers, and colleagues.
So why are wekeen on gossiping? Are we just natural ______, of both time and words? Or do wetalk a lot about nothing in particular simply to avoid facing up to the reallyimportant issues of life? It's not the case according to Professor RobinDunbar. In fact, in his latest book, Grooming, Gossip and the Evolution ofLanguage, the psychologist says gossip is one of these really______issues.
Dunbar ______the traditional view that language was developed by the men at the early stageof social development in order to organize their manly hunting activities moreeffectively, or even to promote the exchange of poetic stories about theirorigins and the supernatural. Instead he suggests that language evolved amongwomen. We don't spend two-thirds of our time gossiping just because we cantalk, argues Dunbar —______, he goes on to say, languageevolved specifically to allow us to gossip.
Dunbararrived at his cheery theory by studying the ______ of the higher primates likemonkeys. By means of grooming——cleaning the fur by brushing it,monkeys form groups with other individuals on whom they can rely for support inthe event of some kind of conflict within the group or______ from outside it.
As we humanbeings evolve from a particular branch of the primate family, Dunbar ______that at one time in our history we did much the same. Grouping together madesense because the bigger the group, the greater the ______ it provided; on theother hand, the bigger the group, the greater the stresses of living close toothers. Grooming helped to ______ the pressure and calm everybody down.
But as thegroups got bigger and bigger, the amount of time spent in grooming activitiesalso had to be ______ to maintain its effectiveness. Clearly, a more ______kind of grooming was needed, and thus language evolved as a kind of vocalgrooming which allowed humans to develop relationship with ever-larger groupsby exchanging information over a wider network of individuals than would bepossible by one-to-one ______ contact.
1.A. claim B. description C. gossip D. language
2.A. occasionally B. habitually C. independently D. originally
3.A. social B. political C. historical D. cultural
4.A. admirers B. masters C. users D. wasters
5.A. vital B. sensitive C. ideal D. difficult
6.A. confirms B. rejects C. outlines D. broadens
7.A. for instance B. in addition C. on the contrary D. as a result
8.A. motivation B. appearance C. emotion D. behavior
9.A. attack B. contact C. inspection D. assistance
10.A. recalls B. denies C. concludes D. confesses
11.A. prospect B. responsibility C. leadership D. protection
12.A. measure B. show C. maintain D. ease
13.A. saved B. extended C. consumed D. gained
14.A. common B. efficient C. scientific D. thoughtful
15.A. indirect B. daily C. physical D. secret
Directions:Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can beused only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
Let's sayyou've decided you want to eat more healthfully. However, you don't have timeto carefully plan menus for meals or read food 1. at the supermarket. Sinceyou really2. yourself to a healthier lifestyle, a little help would come inhandy, wouldn't it? This is where a "choice architect" canhelp3.some of the burden of doing it all yourself. Choice architects arepeople who organize the contexts in which customers make decisions. Forexample, the person who decides the layout of your local supermarket——including which shelf the peanut buttergoes on, and how the oranges are piled up——is a choice architect.
Governmentsdon't have to4.healthier lifestyles through laws for example, smoking bans.Rather, if given an environment created by a choice architect——one that encourages us to choose what isbest——we will do the right things. In otherwords, there will be designs that gently push customers toward making healthierchoices, without removing freedom of choice. This idea combines freedom tochoose with5.hints from choice architects, who aim to help people livelonger, healthier, and happier lives.
The Britishand Swedish governments have introduced a so-called "traffic lightsystem" to 6.foods as healthy or unhealthy. This means that customerscan see at a glance how much fat, sugar, and salt each product contains7.bylooking at the lights on the package. A green light 8.that the amounts ofthe three nutrients are healthy; yellow indicates that the customer shouldbe9.; and red means that the food is high in at least one of the threenutrients and should be eaten in 10.. The customer is given important healthinformation, but is still free to decide what to choose.
Directions:After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passagecoherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill ineach blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, useone word that best fits each blank.
Today theStatue of Liberty is a beloved landmark. It 1.(tower) above of theharbor of New York and is lovingly cared for by the National Park Service. Manythousands of visitors who visit Liberty Island each year might never suspectthat getting the statue 2.(build) was a long slow struggle. More than acentury ago, it 3.(be) the celebration of freedom and the commemorationof the friendship between America and France that inspired sculptor AugusteBartholdi and finally he went forward with designing the potential statue andpromoting the idea of building it. However, money was so big a problem 4.was haunting the two governments from the beginning to the end.
Donations forthe building of the statue first began coming in throughout France in 1875.Numerous people gave donations. A copper company donated the copper sheets thatwould be used to fashion the skin of the statue. Various donations werehelpful, 5. the cost of the statue kept riding. 6.(face) with ashortfall of money, the French-American Union held a lottery. Merchants inParis donated prizes, and tickets were sold. The lottery was a success, butmore money was still needed. The sculptor Bartholdi eventually sold miniatureversions of the statue, 7. the name of the buyer engraved on them.Finally, in July 1880 the French-American Union announced that enough money hadbeen raised to complete the building of the statue.
While theFrench had announced that the funds for the statues were in place in 1880, bylate 1882 the American donations, which would be needed to build the pedestal,were sadly lagging. The sculptor Bartholdi had travelled to America in 1871 topromote the idea of the statue. Despite Bartholdi’s efforts, the idea of thestatue was difficult 8.(sell). some newspapers, most notably the New YorkTimes, often criticized the statue as folly, and vehementlyopposed 9.(spend) any money on it. The newspaper publisher JosephPulitzer, who had purchased a New York City daily, The World, in the early1880s, took us the cause of the statue’s pedestal. He mounted an energetic funddrive, promising to print the name of each donor, 10. small the donation,Pulitzer’s audacious plan worked, and millions of people around the countrybegan donating whatever they could.
In August1885, that final $100,000 for the statue;s pedestal had been raised.Construction work on the stone structure continued, and the next year theStatue of Liberty, which had arrived from France packed in crated, was erectedon top.
请根据下面的英文短诗展开合理想象，写一篇介绍人物的文章。标题为：My Teacher, Mr Moore。注意：词数100左右。
My Teacher, Mr Moore
There is a teacher Mr Moore，
Who is lovely and thirty－four，
Always encouraging us to try，
He leads us to a world of “why”，
We all admire him more and more.
My Teacher, Mr Moore
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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，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：在错的词下画一横线，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。
When asked about “Are you willingly to have a younger brother or sister”， it's possible that most student say yes.They say having a companion will help stop them feel lonely.Besides, they can learn to share things and provide other people help.The few others whom say no are afraid that their parents will love them little if they aren't the only child at home.
As for me, my answer was definitely yes.For one thing, having a companion is a great fun to me and I like to play with him or her.For other, I will have a good friend to do things with, to talk with or to share my things with.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。
Chinese brush calligraphy or “shufa” in Chinese is one of 1. most important art forms in China.Many Asian cultures have originated their own calligraphy, but China's is unequaled because of 2. (it) beauty, grace, and history.
The 3.(origin) of Chinese brush calligraphy are unknown, but local tales say it goes back over 4,000 years to the time of the legendary(传说的) Yellow Emperor (2698 －2598 B．C．)．At that time characters were carved on animal bones or tortoise shells.Only after Emperor Qin Shi Huang united China under his rule 4. one country did it really gain popularity as a common art form.
He simplified Chinese characters and regular rules were set, 5.(make) it easier for people to learn and master.This Chinese art form continued to progress and during the Tang Dynasty (618 －907 A．D．) a new type of cursive script (草书) was formed and standardized.It is written 6.(free), but is not as easy to read.
Today Chinese calligraphy is once again a subject in schools and an art form highly 7.(appreciate) across the world.Anyone can practice it and all 8. is required is a simple set including: brushes, ink, paper.It's fun for amateurs to try, but to become good at it, not only years of practice but also natural talent 9.(need)．Practicing this art consistently can develop personal character and is of great 10.(beneficial) to health.
