2010 was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards(暴风雪), landslides(滑坡)and droughts
killed at least a quarter million people in 2010---the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
“It just seemed like it was back-to-back (接二连三) and it came waves,” said C
raig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.
“The term ' 100-year event ' really lost its meaning this year.”
And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.
Even though many disasters seem accidental, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and strange year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.
Poor construction and development practices make earthquake more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable building (危房) in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes the river breaches(攻破), or the tropical cyclone (旋风) hits, more people die.
The January earthquake that killed well more than 220000 people in Haita is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people, many of them living in poverty, and more poorly built shanties (棚户区) than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010, total deaths would have probably been in the 80 000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.
Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warning, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.
The excessive (过多的) amount of extreme weather of 2010 is a clear sign of man-made global warning that climate scientists have long warned about. They calculate that the killer Russian heat wave ---setting a national record of 111 degrees --- would happen once every 100000 years without global warning.
Preliminary (之前的) data show that 18 counties broke their records for the hottest day ever.
White House science adviser John Holdren said we should get used to climate disasters or do something about global warning. "The science is clear that we can expect more and more of these kinds of damaging events unless and until society's emissions of heat-trapping (吸热的)gases and particles are sh
arply reduce." What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．How the Earth struck back in 2010. | B．Why the Earth struck back. |
| C．How terrorism attacks struck. | D．What natural disaster mean to us. |
What does the underlined word "it" refer to in the third paragraph?
| A．Earthquake. | B．The Earth. | C．2010 | D．Natural disaster. |
What do the fifth, sixth and seventh paragraphs mainly tell us?
| A．The reason why there were so mainly disasters in 2010. |
| B．The way that natural disasters happened. |
| C．The way that man built buildings. |
| D．The way that people lived. |
What is the way to cut back on the number of natural disasters?
| A．To build stronger houses. |
| B．To develop less. |
| C．To reduce the emissions of heat-trapping gases and particles greatly. |
| D．To forecast the happening of natural disasters correctly. |
Why did the writer give the example of th
e earthquake that happened in Haiti?
| A．To show more people's living in vulnerable building can cause more people to die in an earthquake. |
B．To sho w Haiti is a poor country. |
| C．To show Port-au-Prince is too crowded. |
| D．To show man's forecast ability of an earthquake reduced. |
Our world is full of tourist traps and crowds of people. What if you could get out ahead of the crowded people and visit a place before it started swarming with crowds of people?
José lgnacio, Uruguay
Only about 300 people actually live here, but in winter, Latin famous stars like Shakira gather here. A new luxury hotel named Bahia Vik is in the process of opening, and JoséIgnacio is preparing to host an international art festival. You can enjoy art atmosphere here and eat steaks at La Huella restaurant.
Koh Rong, Cambodia
Visiting this Cambodian island is like stepping into a screen saver. With only a few houses and some fishing villages, many people say it’s like Thailand 20 years ago when tourists landed the untouched beaches. Ferries started regularly shuttling tourists to Koh Rong only a few years ago, but things are still pretty quiet until someone plans to build an airport.
Riga, Latvia
Latvia is Europe’s best kept secret, but all has changed now since Riga was named the European Capital of Culture in 2014. The city also ranked as Europe’s cheapest destination for backpackers this year, with an average cost of just $33 per day for food, lodging, transportation and entertainment. Hurry up and peruse (研读) Old Riga and St. Peter’s tower, and get fancy at the Latvian National Opera.
Puglia, Italy
With food travel on the rise, Puglia is becoming a household name. Under the Italian cultural influences, the Mediterranean diet takes one of its purest and most delicious forms: food is locally purchased and restaurants are quaint (精致的) and are of high quality, which have good reputations.The first paragraph is used to.
| A．complain about tourist traps |
| B．introduce the topic of the text |
| C．warn readers to avoid crowded people |
| D．show how tired travelers feel after holidays |
When visiting Koh Rong, you can.
| A．take a boat to get there |
| B．eat steaks at La Huella restaurant |
| C．find there is a large beautiful airport |
| D．find it’s as developed as Thailand |
Which of the following will cost travelers least in Europe?
| A．José Ignacio, Uruguay. |
| B．Koh Rong, Cambodia. |
| C．Riga, Latvia. |
| D．Puglia, Italy. |
What can we know about Puglia?
| A．Its diet enjoys wide popularity. |
| B．Its food price is rising rapidly. |
| C．It has the most delicious food in Italy. |
| D．It has a luxury hotel named Bahia Vik. |
If you walk around any large city, you’ll find a coffee shop on every corner. Many shops offer comfortable sofas, large screen televisions and sometimes even live music. More and more teenagers are hanging out there. My pre-teen has already done so after school once a month, but she always orders fruit juice. I think she would drink coffee sooner or later, so I started doing some research online.
I found that coffee in moderation (适度) could be safe, but one thing that was constant online was the chance of becoming addicted to coffee. Coffee is one step up from soda but still not as dangerous as energy drinks or alcohol. Still, any addiction is hard to break, so I needed to come up with a plan that would protect my child.
Coffee shops offer a safe place for teenagers to hang out. As like anything else you let your children do, you need to set limits. Drinking coffee while socializing once or twice a week won’t cause a severe caffeine addiction. However, you should avoid allowing a cup of coffee every morning and ensure they get adequate sleep each night, which will make them less likely to feel the need to drink coffee.
As parents, we have responsibility to set a good example. If you’re addicted to caffeine, it’s time to start monitoring your intake. If you drink much water and keep healthier drink options in your fridge and at your dinner table, your teenager will follow you. I drink much water and so do both my children. My kids learn more from watching me do things than they will ever learn from my verbal teaching.
As a mother, I’m ready to allow my child to try coffee and we’ll talk about it and discuss the pros and cons of consuming this. I feel open communication is vital in helping them make good decisions. Although the decision to drink coffee doesn’t pose the same dangers as underage drinking, it still deserves a thoughtful conversation.The author began to do research on coffee in order to _____
| A．offer some good advice to coffee shops |
| B．guide her daughter to drink coffee properly |
| C．stop her daughter hanging out in coffee shops |
| D．let her daughter believe that fruit juice is healthy |
According to the passage, if teenagers have enough sleep, they_____
| A．won’t ache for coffee that much |
| B．won’t hang out in coffee shops |
| C．won’t drink coffee forever |
| D．will drink water instead of coffee |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 imply?
| A．The author’s children don’t like to talk with her. |
| B．The author thinks a good example functions better. |
| C．The author is living in harmony with her children. |
| D．The author doesn’t want her children to learn from her. |
Which of the following statements agrees with the author’s opinion according to the passage?
| A．Teenagers should be stopped from entering coffee shops. |
| B．Coffee shops should not offer many options to teenagers. |
| C．Teenagers’ activities in coffee shops should be limited strictly. |
| D．Parents should not force their children to stop drinking coffee. |
Last summer I was lucky enough to participate in a volunteer adventure to Kenya, in association with Virgin Atlantic’s Be the Change programme and children’s charity, Free the Children. The moment I read the e-mail saying that I had been accepted into Free the Children’s Virgin Atlantic scholarship trip to Kenya, I had no idea how much it was going to change my life. I thought the trip would be a great way to learn about life in one of the most rural areas of Kenya, but I never thought about how deeply I might be affected by this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
When we entered the Masai Mara, the first thing that struck me was how unbelievably beautiful it was. As I looked closer to it, I realized there was something even more beautiful: the people. I have never been to a place where the saying “the people are what make the place” was more true.
The way they wave at you excitedly as you drive past, shouting “Jambo, Jambo!” is something that I have never experienced. They are always smiling and welcoming and it made me realize that, if everyone were to act like this, the world would be a much happier place.
The most amazing thing about the trip was that we weren’t treated like tourists for one second. We were able to experience every little detail. We built foundations, carried ten litres of water…
The one thing I will never forget is visiting Emorijoi Primary School. Let me describe it like this: As soon as you entered into the gate, you would hear someone shouting your name. Then you looked around and realized that it was the same little girl that you were playing football with the last time you visited.
There are literally no words to explain how much I miss Kenya. It feels like there is a piece of string attaching me to everyone that I met there. They will stay with me forever and always be in my heart. When the author was informed she was in the volunteer adventure, .
| A．she didn’t think much of it |
| B．she pretended to be excited |
| C．she became proud of herself |
| D．she hoped to learn more about Kenya |
What made the Masai Mara much more beautiful? _____.
| A．The local people | B．The scenery |
| C．The lovely children | D．The primary school |
According to the passage, “Jambo” is actually a way for the local people to_____.
| A．say thanks to the visitors |
| B．praise the beautiful visitors |
| C．greet the visitors |
| D．express their happiness |
Which word can best describe the author’s feeling of the adventure?
| A．Calm | B．Unexpected |
| C．Upset | D．Threatened |
My father’s playing the violin lights up any room. To him, it is an instrument of faith, hope and charity. My mother used to joke, “Your papa would play his violin if the world was about to blow up.”
Once_Dad_came_about_as_close_to_that_as_could_ever_be_possible.
In the early years of the 20th century, the boll weevil (棉铃象鼻虫) began destroying the cotton farms in the southern USA.
In May 1910, folks all over the nation were talking about Halley’s Comet (哈雷彗星). There were all sorts of frightening stories about it, the main one being that the world would pass through its tail, said to be millions of miles long.
Between the threats of the comet and weevils, the farmers were running low on optimism. One night, they gathered at our farm to discuss what to do. Will Bowen, a local man, suggested, “Charley, how about giving us a little music?”
“I don’t think anybody’d want to hear me tonight,” Dad replied.
“Come on, Mr. Nordyke,” one of the younger women urged. “Play for us!”
Dad got the hang of getting people in the mood for his music. He played church songs, and then switched to war songs. By the time he had finished performing, people were stamping their feet, clapping their hands and yelling.
All of our neighbors went home whistling. Very few remembered to look to see whether the comet was still around.
Another evening, Will Bowen called Dad on the telephone and said, “Charley, I'm downhearted and blue. Could you play a tune or two for me through the phone?”
Dad handed the receiver to me and then set about playing the songs he had performed that night. I could hear Mr. Bowen whistling and yelling.
By the time the tune was finished there were half a dozen neighbors on the line. They talked about how wonderful the music sounded over the telephone. They made numerous requests; I relayed them to Dad and he played.
Our broadcasts became regular features of community life. When the weather was bad in winter and farmers were forced to remain in the house, someone would ring us and ask Dad to play. Usually it developed into a network affair. Our phone kept ringing with requests for music until radio came into fashion. It can be inferred from the first paragraph that the author’s mother ________.
| A．believed that her husband had the ability to save the world by playing the violin. |
| B．complained that her husband loved the violin more than her. |
| C．thought that her husband could always get strength from his violin. |
| D．showed that she loved music as much as her husband |
The underlined sentence “Once Dad came about as close to that as could ever be possible.” functions as ________.
| A．a conclusion of the first paragraph |
| B．an introduction of a story |
| C．an example of my father's love of music |
| D．the topic sentence of this passage |
From the last three paragraphs, we could see that Mr. Nordyke was ______.
| A．generous and optimistic | B．popular and creative |
| C．sensitive and determined | D．energetic and humorous |
All the following statements are FALSE except ________.
| A．The neighbors often dropped in to hear Mr. Nordyke’s performance. |
| B．Mr. Nordyke’s music entertained and comforted people in the community. |
| C．The farmers knew listening to music would help them avoid being destroyed by Halley’s Comet. |
| D．At that time people loved all sorts of music deeply. |
Some people make art with paint, and others use pencil or clay. But Italian artist Maurizio Savini prefers to use bright pink gum—after it has been chewed.
Savini makes huge sculptures of bears and even people out of used chewing gum. Each sculpture requires thousands of pieces of gum.
“I like to use chewing gum because it seemed to me a material that can be used in many ways compared with those used by the conventional arts such as painting,” Savini says.
How does he do it? The process is a lot like working with clay. “I work the chewing gum when it is warm and shape it with a knife,” says Savini. Then, he puts a chemical onto each gum sculpture to make the gum stay in place.
Savini’s sticky art has been shown in cities like London, Paris, and Rome, where he lives today.
Savini isn’t the only artist to work with gum. His pink sculptures have inspired artists all over the world to get creative with the sticky matter.
London artist Ben Wilson paints small paintings onto flat pieces of chewed gum he finds stuck to streets and sidewalks. In Canada, Jason Kronenwald uses different colored gum to make portraits of famous people.
Kronenwald seldom chews gum himself. Instead, his friends help chew gum for him while he’s working. “At times it can make me disgusted, but I just pay attention to the colors I need and get the sculpture going,” he says.
In America, Jamie Marraccini’s art depends on color, so he tests different kinds of gum before using them. To find out what color the chewed gum will become once hardened, he lets it age for up to six months.
“I’ve created 30 works totaling more than 35,000 pieces of gum,” says Marraccini. That’s a lot of gum!
So think twice the next time you throw away a wad of gum. Maybe what seems like trash could actually be the beginning of a great piece of art.The underlined word “disgusted” in the eighth paragraph probably means ________.
| A．excited | B．feel tired and sick |
| C．unhappy | D．energetic |
Marraccini stores the gum for six months in order to ______.
| A．judge how hard it will be |
| B．know whether it is still sweet |
| C．examine what chemicals it contains |
| D．see what color it will become |
The best title for the passage is ________.
| A．Sticky sculptures | B．Creative artists |
| C．A new form of art | D．Chewing gum |
Savini’s works of art can be seen in all the cities EXCEPT _______.
| A．London | B．Rome | C．New York | D．Paris |