Skiing only caught on for ordinary Chinese in the mid-1990s in the country’s north and northeast, but has since developed into a pastime that can be practiced nationwide. Here are four resorts(度假胜地) worthy of consideration.
Yabuli Ski Resort
The ski resort, built on Yabuli Sun Mountain, part of the Changbai Mountain Range, is located in China’s northernmost province, Heilongjiang.
It has the best snow quality, skiing trails and impressive views. Wild animals are often spotted on the site.
The resort serves as the primary training centre for China’s national teams. It also has a trail vertical drop from 200 meters to 1,200 meters with an average drop of 700 meters.
What’s cool: The largest ski resort in China.
Beijing Huaibei International Ski Resort
This is a great destination for snowboarders and skiers to escape the rush life of the city and is a large recreational spot that boasts excellent ski slopes, world-class facilities, beautiful natural scenery, as well as convenient accommodation and dining services.
Travelers are also able to take a bird’s eye view of the Great Wall by catching a cable car along 1,200 meters.
What’s cool: Close to the Great Wall and Beijing’s largest ski resort.
Shennongjia Ski Resort
Opened in 2004, the ski resort is located in the inland of Shennongjia. It covers an area of 100,000 square meters and is only 0.5 km from the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve.
There are ski tracks for beginners and more than 20 coaches for tourists. While experiencing the excitement of skiing, people can also admire Shennongjia’s distinctive scenery of countless different odd mountain valleys, unknown beautiful flowers and plants.
What’s cool: Largest winter sports complex for skiers from South and Central China.
Changbai Mountain Ski Resort
The ski resort is an ideal place for skiing and ice-skating because of its well-constructed ski tracks, comprehensive winter sports training facilities and breathtaking environment.
Enthusiasts can also choose other activities including motor skiing, sleigh skiing, shooting and hunting.
The area’s natural hot springs are another attraction of the resort.
What’s cool: The resort is located in the heart of Changbai Mountain Nature Reserve’s thick forest and has natural hot springs. The passage is intended to ______.
| A．encourage people to learn skiing during holidays |
| B．attract people to ski in these places |
| C．offer services of booking tickets for skiing |
| D．provide people with a better understanding of skiing |
In what way is Changbai Mountain Ski Resort different from the other three resorts?
| A．It has various training facilities. |
| B．It has coaches for tourists. |
| C．It has natural hot springs. |
| D．It has breathtaking natural scenery. |
China’s national teams are usually trained at_______.
| A．Yabuli Ski Resort | B．Shennongjia Ski Resort |
| C．Changbai Mountain Ski Resort | D．Beijing Huaibei International Ski Resort |
Plants are very important living things. Life could not go on if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air， water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air， water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. Therefore animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us. If you look carefully at the plants around you， you will find that there are two kinds of plants： flowering plants and non-flowering plants. Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed， some have two， three or four， and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit. Most non-flowering plants do not grow from seeds. They grow from spores（胚芽）。 Spores are very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as seeds. When these spores are all on wet and shady places， they usually grow into new plants.The main idea of the first paragraph is that ______.
| A．plants are important for life | B．plants cannot grow without air |
| C．there are many plants in the world | D．we can not live without water |
Plants can make food from ______.
| A．flower， water and air | B．water， sunlight and air |
| C．air， water and soil | D．air， sun and light |
What can we infer（推断） from the passage ？
| A．Of all living things animals are most important |
| B．Spores are seeds |
| C．All fruits of flowering plants have seeds |
| D．Without plants， man will die out |
This passage may be taken from ________.
| A．a medicine book | B．a novel |
| C．a science magazine | D．an experiment report |
The underlined word “protected” in the third paragraph can be replaced by ______.
| A．damaged | B．polluted | C．prevented | D．guarded |
The earth is a special planet in the solar system. The explosion of the earth produced carbon, nitrogen, vapor and other gases, (make) the earth’s atmosphere. What is even more important is _
as the earth cooled, water which is fundamental to the
（develop） of life appeared and stayed on the surface. The continued presence of water allowed the earth to dissolve
(harm) gases into the oceans and this produced a chain reaction which made it possible for life to develop.
Many millions of years later, the _（arrive） of small plants encouraged the development of early shellfish
all sorts of fish. Then, with the first green plants appearing on land, land animals appeared and dinosaurs developed and existed on the earth for millions of years. Then Dinosaurs’ sudden disappearance made the rise of mammals possible on the earth. They were different from all life forms
ever existed in the past because they produced young from within their bodies. Finally, some small clever animals with hands and legs ___
___(appear) and spread all over the earth. Thus they, in their turn, have become
most important animals. However, they are putting too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. So for millions of years to come,
life will continue on the earth will depend on whether the present problem can be solved.
[1] Every year, whenever the Spring Festival arrives, a lot of Chinese people cannot wait to go home. They queue for long hours in front of the ticket offices in railway stations, or do whatever they can in order to get a ticket. They tolerate the long journey on the train only to want to ____________ with their near and dear ones.
[2] According to the Beijing Youth Daily, most Chinese celebrate the Spring Festival not only because they want to follow tradition, there are also some practical reasons to explain Chinese people's fever for the holiday. Compared with one's workplace, home provides a more humane environment for one to relax oneself.
[3] Society may do with or without you, but at home, you become unique and indispensable. You may be the father or mother, daughter or son, grandfather or grandmother in the family and the family will be incomplete if anyone is absent, because every member in the family is bound together, and everyone in the family is pleased with the feeling that he or she is unique and irreplaceable.
[4] In addition, family provides an ideal environment for one to fully relax oneself. At home, one can take one's time to do whatever he or she wants, and one can spend money whenever one likes. In society, however, one needs to do everything fast and with high efficiency, because society always requires efficiency and maximum profits. Such company principles make people merely a tool in modern society.
[5] Chinese people's strong desire for the Spring Festival shows that they feel oppressed and have a sense of predicament (困境) of existence in modern society. The Spring Festival provides a chance for them to escape from such anxiety and treasure the long-lost tradition of community spirit. With the Spring Festival, people can find back the warm, family atmosphere often seen in days gone by.What's the passage mainly talking about? (Please answer within 10 words.)
_____________________________________________________________________Fill in the blanks with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words. )
_____________________________________________________________________Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?
You may not be a necessary part in society, but in your family, you are very important and no one else can take the place of you.
_____________________________________________________________________Do you think home is important for Chinese to celebrate the Spring Festival? Why or why not? (Please answer within 30 words.)
_____________________________________________________________________Translate the underlined sentence in the last paragraph into Chinese.
_____________________________________________________________________
Imagine your body is like the house you live in．Every day, your family creates rubbish．The rubbish builds up until it is put out for the weekly garbage collection．
Now, say you put three bags of garbage out, but because one of the collectors was away sick, only two bags are collected．You take the leftover bag inside to be put out again next week．The following week you put on another three bags, plus the leftover bag from last week．But again, only two bags are collected．Imagine this cycle is repeated over the following weeks．
This is a simple description of what happens to your body when your kidneys （肾脏）don't work efficiently．Your body is not thoroughly emptied of waste products．Other areas of the body such as blood pressure and red blood cell production are affected and the insidious process that may lead to kidney failure begins．
It's not uncommon for people to lose up to 90% of their kidney function before developing any symptoms．There may be no warning signs. This makes early detection （诊查）difficult．
Kidney's main job is to remove toxins（毒素） and unwanted water from our blood．Every day our kidneys clean an average of 200 litres of blood．Kidney failure may be a gradual and silent process, going unnoticed because there is no obvious pain．
Research shows that more than 35% of the patients requiring dialysis（透析）do not see a kidney specialist before they have to do so．Some risk factors for kidney disease such as age and genetic make-up are out of our control; however, some changes in lifestyle may help prevent kidney damage．Two major risk factors for kidney disease, diabetes （糖尿病）and high blood pressure, have been on the rise over the last few decades．Both conditions are chiefly affected by being overweight and not getting enough exercises, which are the potential (潜在的) risk factors for the kidney disease．The author gives the example of the house we live in to indicate that ______．
| A．it doesn't matter much if the waste in our body is not emptied in time |
| B．our body will not produce any waste if our kidneys work efficiently |
| C．it's important for our body to empty the waste in time every day |
| D．it's safe and harmless for our body to keep some waste |
The underlined word “insidious” in Paragraph 3 means.
| A．smooth and safe | B．apparent and fast |
| C．gradual and unnoticed | D．long and painful |
We can infer that when we find some symptoms related to our kidneys,.
| A．the kidney failure begins |
| B．the kidneys can still work properly |
| C．we have lost about 10% of kidney function |
| D．the kidneys may have been seriously damaged |
How many risk factors of kidney disease are mentioned in the passage?
| A．Six. | B．Five. | C．Four. | D．Two. |
Which of the following helps prevent kidney damage most effectively?
| A．Go to see a kidney specialist shortly before dialysis starts. |
| B．Take enough exercise and make early detection of kidney disease. |
| C．Try to keep low blood pressure and a stable lifestyle. |
| D．Go to hospital whenever you find any warning signs. |
Celebrity endorsements
Despite the fact that companies believe celebrities had a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers, researchers have discovered that this does not seem to be the case. British and Swiss researchers carried out a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people.
In a sample of 298 students, researchers presented a magazine advertisement for a digital camera that was endorsed (为…做广告宣传) by a fictional student claiming the camera was “hot” and his “preferred choice”. The same advertisement was shown to other students, but with a difference: The camera was endorsed by a famous person in Germany.
While the students said that both advertisements were beneficial, the one made by the student topped the celebrity one if students aimed to impress others with their purchases (购买). More than half of the students, who admitted purchasing products that would impress others, said they were influenced by the student’s advertisement. Only 20％ said the celebrity one would affect their buying decision.
Professor Brett Martin of the University of Bath’s School of Management, explained that the findings could be used not only in Germany, but in other countries as well. “ Our research questions whether celebrities are the best ways to sell products,” said Prof Martin.“Celebrities can be effective but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from a fictional fellow student. This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy.”Some companies think the celebrities endorsement ．
| A．is popular with the consumers |
| B．can pull all the consumers into the shops |
| C．can affect the consumers’ purchasing |
| D．is as effective as an endorsement from common people |
Which of the following ads would be more effective to common consumers, according to
the experiment?
An ad featuring lovely pandas.
An ad made by David Beckham.
An ad made by fictional common people.
An ad with beautiful natural scenery. The underlined words “the Jones” in the last paragragh refer to“”．
| A．someone called Jones | B．common people |
| C．the Jones family | D．celebrities |
We can infer from the passage that．
| A．celebrities cheat consumers in advertisement |
| B．the researchers here are against celebrity endorsement |
| C．the student’s ads are more reliable than those made by celebrities |
| D．companies needn’t spend so much money on celebrity endorsement |
We can probably read the article in．
| A．a local newspaper | B．a science report |
| C．an academic journal | D．a textbook |