A few years ago my wife and I took a trip to Costa Rica. Upon arrival we____a car and headed out to our first destination which was a few hours away. I had a____so I figured I'd be in great condition. About 20 minutes into the drive I found myself practically____in the unmarked streets and dirty roads. Upset. I turned to Siri, a virtual(虚拟的) assistant in my phone, for help.
I typed the____ to our destination in my phone and instantly Siri had ____ the best route(路线)to get there and we were on our way.
The only____was that things didn't always go the way I thought they would. With the streets not being well _____I would sometimes miss a turn and head in the ____direction. Luckily, Siri never got____with me. Any time I missed a turn Siri would simply ____and say, "Recalculating route. ____ route.”And within a few seconds, Siri would have a new route____to get us to our destination.
Sometimes the new route meant I had to____ to the right turn and sometimes she found a different route that took my new location into ____ .Eventually we made it to our hotel ____and enjoyed some beautiful scenery along the way.
Most people make the ____of thinking that success and happiness come from someone setting a goal and then ____ straight towards it. The____ is that there is no straight path to success. There isn't even the____ path. There are many paths that can get you to your goals. You just have to be____to recalculate your route when you miss a turn or there is something in your way.
1.A. produced B. repaired C. rented D. purchased
2.A. car B. phone C. compass D. map
3.A. absorbed B. lost C. experienced D. free
4.A. address B. approach C. receipt D. schedule
5.A. polished B. discovered C. opened D. managed
6.A. fear B. difference C. sympathy D. problem
7.A. marked B. paved C. arranged D. expanded
8.A. illegal B. new C. wrong D. potential
9.A. generous B. mad C. concerned D. cautious
10.A. break down B. cut in C. get up D. go away
11.A. Abandoning B. Cancelling C. Reaching D. Changing
12.A. checked B. updated C. adjusted D. planned
13.A. point B. lead C. return D. apply
14.A. order B. direction C. account D. place
15.A. safely B. frequently C. hungrily D. gradually
16.A. mistake B. excuse C. accident D. trouble
17.A. accumulating B. withdrawing C. marching D. fleeing
18.A. answer B. truth C. condition D. privilege
19.A. first B. suitable C. accurate D. only
20.A. willing B. proud C. anxious D. ambitious
Nature soothes(抚慰)our stressed-out souls. We know that nature is the best prescription, and new research suggests we can gain benefits while visiting parks.
1.The study published in the International Journal of Environmental Health Research found that spending 20 minutes in a city park can make you happier, regardless of whether you use that time to exercise or not.
"In general,we found park visitors reported an improvement in emotional well-being(幸福感)after the park visit.”the study's lead author and University of Alabama at Birmingham professor Hon K. Yuen said in a statement.“2.”Instead, we found time spent in the park is related to improved emotional well-being.”
For the study, 94 adults visited three city parks in Mountain Brook, Alabama, completing a questionnaire about their subjective well-being before and after their visit. 3. A visit of between 20 and 25 minutes showed the best results, with a roughly 64% increase in the participants' self-reported well-being, even if they didn't move a great deal in the park. 4.
The study group was truly small. as the study's co-author and another UAB professor, Gavin Jenkins, acknowledges. 5.The challenge facing cities is that there is increasing evidence about the value of city parks but we continue to see the decrease of these spaces.
A. Something was used to track their physical activity.
B. You usually visit a small green space in your neighborhood.
C. However, its findings pointed out the importance of city parks.
D. If you want to feel happier, you just need to exercise for 20 minutes in a park.
E. The best part is that you needn't visit a national park or go far out of your way.
F. This means people can benefit from visiting a nearby park, regardless of physical ability.
G. But we didn't find levels of physical activity are linked to improved emotional well-being.
Picture an iceberg(冰山).You'll probably imagine something white as snow rising up out of a blue sea. But icebergs can be all sorts of shades. They can be from a frosty blue to an attractive green.
Researchers and sailors have observed emerald(翠绿色)icebergs for years. A large piece of ice "mast-high" and "green as emerald" even appears in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1834 poem. But they haven't found out exactly why these icebergs look the way they do.
A new paper led by Stephen Warren was published. It all has to do with what icebergs are made out of. Icebergs break off glaciers(冰川)or ice shelves, which happens mainly around Antarctica and Greenland. They begin their lives as snowfall that accumulates over time. So. icebergs contain air pockets with the form of bubbles that spread light. With some exceptions and rare lines, glacier ice tends to look bluish white.
At first，Warren guessed that the green was a product of melt carbon. And it came from rotting plants or sea animals. But samples(样本)didn't prove it. Another idea started to take shape after they had found a high concentration of iron in a sample of sea ice from the Amery Ice Shelf.
When glaciers rub across land, they produce what's known as glacier flour. It is a product of bedrock being ground clown by the moving mass. As glaciers move away, these remains are usually washed out into water. in particles sometimes too small to be noticeable to your eyes. But on land. soil and rocks contain iron oxides that often have rosy colors. like reds, yellows, and browns-and since the sea ice contained 500 times more iron than the glacier ice, Warren wondered whether the remains were responsible for icebergs taking on a green appearance.
He doesn't know for sure. He's hoping to secure money so that he can return to the area and study the icebergs themselves.
1.Why is Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem mentioned in the text?
A. It tells why icebergs look the way they do.
B. It describes vividly what icebergs are like.
C. It says causes of the appearance of icebergs.
D. It proves the existence of colorful icebergs.
2.What can we know about Stephen Warren's paper?
A. It draws on researchers' and sailors' views.
B. It is the record of the movement of icebergs.
C. It talks about how icebergs come into being.
D. It is a collection of various social phenomena.
3.What does the underlined word "it" in paragraph 4 refer to?
A. A sample of sea ice. B. Warren's first guess.
C. Warren's idea on iron. D. A product of melt carbon.
4.What is paragraph 5 mainly about?
A. The possible reason why icebergs look green.
B. Where most of icebergs eventually disappear.
C. How icebergs take in the colors from glaciers.
D. The way in which icebergs breaks off glaciers.
Experts say there are about 6，500 languages spoken throughout the world. But the United Nations guesses that about half of these languages are in danger of disappearing.
One organization seeking to save world languages is Wikitongues. It has a simple goal: to provide the tools and support that people need to save their languages. When a language disappears, many other things can go away as well. For example, parts of a community's(社区的)culture. knowledge and identity can also be lost.
Because of this, Udell. co-founder of Wikitongues. believes the process of bringing languages hack must be done by community members themselves. he said. "There is no way an outside organization can save someone's language for them.”
Wikitongues was started in 2016 as an open Internet collection of world languages. The self-described "community" is operated by volunteers from around the world. The collection is in the form of language videos that people speaking the languages add to the Wikitongues website.
Udell says saving languages does count. There are many examples of languages that disappeared but later returned to use. "Hebrew went extinct(灭绝的)in the 4th century BC, and was revived(复兴)in the 1800s. Now once again，it's the mother tongue of half of the world's Jewish population.”Another example is a Native American tribe. The tribe's language went extinct in the 1940s. But the tribe was able to successfully build up a "language recovery" in recent years.
One of Wikitongues' volunteers is Theron Kolokwe. who lives in Namibia. His native language is Subiya. which is spoken by about 30.000 people.
"I want the world to know about my language,” Kolokwe said. But his goal goes beyond just sharing his language with others through video. He is also working to create a dictionary and language teaching materials that can be used in schools.
1.What does Udell consider important in saving languages?
A. Gathering language information. B. Relying on the language speakers.
C. Setting up an outside organization. D. Combining languages with culture.
2.How does Wikitongues help save languages?
A. By getting language videos from its speakers collected.
B. By building an online dictionary for each language.
C. By creating a real-life community for its speakers.
D. By requiring volunteers to learn new languages.
3.What do the examples in paragraph 5 suggest?
A. The achievements of Wikitongues. B. The influences of languages on life.
C. The significance of saving languages. D. The difficulty with language recovery.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Wikitongues Is Struggling to Spread Languages
B. Wikitongues Starts a Language Learning Website
C. Wikitongues Is Bringing Old Languages Back to Life
D. Wikitongues Seeks to Save World's Dying Languages
Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde has spent much of his time seeking artistic solutions(解决方案)to solve our environmental problems. His past projects include "Bioluminescent(生物发光)Trees" to light streets, a "Smog-Free Tower" to clean Beijing's polluted air. and "Gates of Light". which uses the headlamps of passing cars to light up the 60 floodgates of the Afsluitdijk, a major dam in the Netherlands. Now, he is hoping to use his skills to solve a pressing global problem-space junk!
Scientists guess that there are over 500，000 bits of large rubbish. To deal with the problem, Roosegaarde intends to achieve his goal by educating the public about the need of the situation and coming up with possible solutions. The plan. called the Space Waste Lab. started in October 2018 with a laser(激光)show in the Netherlands. The unique outdoor artwork of LEDs used real-time tracking information to point at pieces of space junk floating at altitudes of 200 to 20,000 kilometers. The experience was designed to make the public know more about how much space junk there are.
To find a solution, the designer has been thinking with experts. One of the projects being considered is "Shooting Stars"，which attempts to reintroduce the trash to the atmosphere in a controlled way. Upon reentry. the waste would burn in the atmosphere like a shooting star. Roosegaarde envisages that if successful .burning space trash could someday replace fireworks at large public events!
In September 2018。the RemoveDEBRIS satellite successfully sent a net to catch a target while orbiting at an altitude of about 300 kilometers(190 miles). Sometime this year. the capsule will set free a harpoon that has been designed to remove space trash. At the end of its task，RemoveDEBRIS will let go a sail to bring the satellite itself. and. hopefully some trash, back into the atmosphere. where it will burn up.
1.What can we infer about Daan Roosegaarde?
A. He is too aggressive to put forward good plans.
B. He is creative in solving environmental problems.
C. He is fond of spending all of his time seeking art skills.
D. He is sensitive to art reflected in environmental projects.
2.Why was a laser show held in October 2018?
A. To confirm real-time information about space trash.
B. To show the great beauty of LEDs to common people.
C. To raise public awareness of the amount of space trash.
D. To inspire people to consider the solution to space trash.
3.What does the underlined word "envisage" in paragraph 3 probably mean?
A. Suspect. B. Demand. C. Advise. D. Imagine.
4.What is the function of a sail?
A. Bringing the satellite to atmosphere to burn.
B. Keeping trash traveling along its own orbit.
C. Taking the satellite away from atmosphere.
D. Removing space trash out of the capsule.
Amazing Train Rides
Taking a train in the winter is fun. The mountains turn from green to white. and you can enjoy them on the journey. Now many holiday-themed trains add fun. All aboard!
●Aurora Winter Train: Alaska
This seasonal scenic train that heads north from Anchorage is popular. From the Winter Train you'll see a snow-white Denali, America's tallest peak(山峰)-and with any luck, a trackside moose(驼鹿).You can get off the train after three hours at Talkeetna to ski in Denali or continue on for another nine hours to Fairbanks for some northern lights viewing. There're few better places, as Fairbanks is America's northernmost city.
●The Ski Train, Colorado
The Ski Train is a joyful ride even for non-skiers. The ride connects Denver's 1914 Beaux-Arts station with the Winter Park ski area. One minute you're in downtown Denver's Beaux-Arts Union Station and two hours later you're stepping off the train. 100 feet from a Winter Park ski lift. What a wonderful ride it is!
●Amtrak California Zephyr: Chicago to San Francisco
Long-distance train travelers adore west wind in any season, but winter adds the appeal of sugary snow outside the window as you travel over the Rockies and Sierras. Departing daily all winter from both Chicago and San Francisco, the 51-hour journey offers hotel-level service in a bedroom. Or you can break up the trip with stops to sleep(and ski)in Denver or Salt Lake City.
●Canyon & Christmas trains: Arizona
Snowbirds" who escape the Midwest cold in December by flying to Arizona wish for memories of a Christmas away from the desert. With a short drive from Phoenix to Clarkdale (near Sedona).they'll see small pines and red rock hills while hugging the Verde River on the four-hour Verde Canyon train in indoor and open-air cars.
1.What should you do if you go to Fairbanks from Anchorage to see northern lights?
A. Change trains in Denali. B. Take a 12-hour train ride.
C. Climb over the tallest peak. D. Travel through a moose farm.
2.On which ride can you enjoy comfortable accommodation?
A. Aurora Winter Train. B. The Ski Train.
C. Amtrak California Zephyr. D. Canyon ﹠Christmas trains.
3.What is the similarity of the four winter train rides?
A. They are all available during the whole year.
B. They are intended for young travel enthusiasts.
C. They offer the passengers good chances of skiing.
D. They provide access to winter scenery on the way.
