I remember my first Christmas party with Grandma．I remember the day when my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Claus,” she laughed．“Even dummies know that!”
I fled to Grandma because I knew she always told me 21 ．After I told her everything, she said “No Santa Claus? Don’t believe it. Now, 22 your coat, and let’s go.”
“Go? Go where?” I asked．
“Where” 23 to be the General Store．As we walked through its doors, Grandma 24 me ten dollars．That was a lot in those days．“Take this money and buy something for 25 needs it．I’ll wait for you in the car．”
The store seemed big and 26 , full of people hurrying to finish their Christmas shopping．For a few moments I just stood there, 27 , holding that bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for．
Suddenly I thought of Bobbie who sat right behind me．I remembered he didn’t have a coat．I fingered the bill with growing 28 ．I would buy Bobbie a coat．
“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the 29 asked me kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down
“Yes,” I replied shyly．“It’s…for Bobbie.”
The nice lady smiled at me．I didn’t get any 30 , but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas．
That evening, Grandma helped me 31 the coat and wrote, “To Bobby, From Santa Claus” on it．Then she 32 me over to Bobbie’s house．
Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie’s house, and she and I crept 33 and hid in the 34 ．Then Grandma gave me a sign．“All right, Santa Claus, get going．”
I took a deep 35 , dashed for his front door, threw the present down, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety．Together we 36 breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open．Finally it 37 , and there stood Bobbie．
Forty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those 38 spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie’s bushes． 39 , I realized: Santa was alive and well, and we were 40 his team．
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Serving only adults, Ramsey House offers you professional hotel standards of accommodation and food service coupled with the friendly, relaxed atmosphere of a high-class non-smoking guest house.
Situated within walking distance of St David’s, the smallest city in Europe, the house stands in its own attractive gardens and has private off-road parking. In the opposite direction, there is easy access to the Pembrokeshire Coast Path, where you can see some of Britain’s most spectacular coastal scenery with its abundant bird life and wild flowers.
We have three double and three twin rooms. Each is individually furnished and decorated to 4-star standard with comfortable beds, central heating, remote control color TV, hair dryers and plenty of mirrors. All the rooms have a modern, well-lit en-suite bathroom with WC, shaver socket and electric shower.
All first-floor rooms have views of either the sea, the Cathedral or open country, and there are three ground-floor rooms with garden views, ideal for guests unable to climb stairs.
Our full Welsh breakfast offers you a great start to the day with homemade bread, cookies and preserves. We can also prepare fresh picnic lunches for your day out walking the Coast Path or on the beaches.
There is comfortable lounge with lots of books and leaflets about Pembrokeshire to help you plan your trips. Weather permitting, guests may enjoy the peace and quiet of our gardens and watch the birds feeding. Drinks are served in both the garden and lounge.
We also have secure bicycle storage, a drying room and light laundry facilities.
Nearby are some of the safest and cleanest beaches in Europe offering a variety of water sports including sailing, surfing, wind-surfing and sea angling. Visitors are welcome at St. David’s City Golf Club and several other Pembrokeshire clubs. We are also conveniently situated for easy access to the bird sanctuary islands of Ramsey, Skomer and Skokholm.
A warm welcome awaits you at Ramsey House all year round. You will find it the ideal touring center in all seasons.
House Owners: Ceri &Elaine Morgan
01437 72021According to the passage, St. David’s is the name of _________________.
| A．a Bed & Breakfast hotel | B．the Coast Path |
| C．a Welsh town | D．Ramsey House |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Guests may come to this house by car or by bike without parking problems. |
| B．Guests have to eat their lunches out on the Coast Path or the beaches. |
| C．Guests staying in the lowest-level rooms have a good view of the sea. |
| D．On the Coast Path guests can enjoy water sports and play golf. |
Which of the following tourists may not be interested in this ad?
| A．Ana, a wheelchair user, who enjoys holidays by the coast. |
| B．A married couple with two young children showing interest in Pembrokeshire. |
| C．Tina, a Ph.D graduate, who attaches great importance to travel safety. |
| D．Xavier, a bird-watching enthusiast, who knows little about the local area. |
As hand-held devices such as smartphones are becoming more common, users are reporting some new physical problems. Florida chiropractor Dean Fishman began noticing an increased number of patients talking about neck and shoulder pain. He discovered these symptoms were due to the overuse of hand-held devices, particularly the action of bending the neck, and then coined the term “Text Neck.” As if the painful symptoms weren’t bad enough, Fishman warns that an untreated case of Text Neck could lead to permanent spinal(脊椎) damage.
Other doctors have warned about “iPad Hand,” a condition that occurs when people use tablets like the iPad for hours at a time. Most people use their left hand to support the tablet and their right hand to tap or scroll. Doing this for long periods without changing positions can result in severe joint pain.
In order to avoid or reduce the possibility of getting Text Neck or iPad Hand, use the following basic ergonomic(人体工学的) principles:
Avoid awkward positioning. Don’t strain your neck, and stay aware of how you are positioned in relation to the device. Make sure that both your neck and shoulders are relaxed and that you aren’t leaning over for a long period of time.
Take frequent breaks when using any kind of mobile device. Many doctors recommend that users change their position every 15 minutes.
When using a tablet, use a case that can support the device on a table or your lap at a comfortable viewing angle.
Along with a case, use a separate keyboard with your tablet. This will be more comfortable since you’ll be resting both hands on the keyboard. And since you won’t be holding the tablet, you’ll be less likely to experience hand or arm pain.What kind of product for hand-held devices does the writer discuss?
| A．One for recording. | B．One for charging. |
| C．One for telephoning. | D．One for typing. |
Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word “coined” (Para1)?
| A．cashed | B．created | C．changed | D．completed |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．If you are holding an iPad for long periods, it could cause spinal damage. |
| B．Text Neck symptoms include long-term damage in the back. |
| C．You are advised to lean over in relation to the device. |
| D．You should rest your hands on the keyboard at times. |
In which magazine would you most likely find this article?
| A．Personal Finance | B．Science Fiction Monthly |
| C．Mind and Body | D．Smartphone World |
I entered high school having read hundreds of books. But I was not a good reader. Merely bookish, I lacked a point of view when I read. Rather, I read in order to get a point of view. I searched books for good expressions and sayings, pieces of information, ideas, themes—anything to enrich my thought and make me feel educated. When one of my teachers suggested to his sleepy tenth-grade English class that a person could not have a "complicated idea" until he had read at least two thousand books, I heard the words without recognizing either its irony (嘲讽) or its very complicated truth. I merely determined to make a list of all the books I had ever read. Strict with myself, I included only once a title I might have read several times. (How, after all, could one read a book more than once?) And I included only those books over a hundred pages in length. (Could anything shorter be a book?)
There was yet another high school list I made. One day I came across a newspaper article about an English professor at a nearby state college. The article had a list of the "hundred most important books of Western Civilization." "More than anything else in my life," the professor told the reporter with finality , " these books have made me all that I am ." That was the kind of words I couldn’t ignore. I kept the list for the several months it took me to read all of the titles. Most books, of course, I hardly understood. While reading Plato's The Republic, for example, I needed to keep looking at the introduction of the book to remind myself what the text was about. However, with the special patience and superstition (迷信) of a schoolboy, I looked at every word of the text. And by the time I reached the last word, pleased, I persuaded myself that I had read The Republic, and seriously crossed Plato off my list.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer thought it was impossible for one to read two thousand books. |
| B．While at high school, the writer had plans for reading. |
| C．The writer only read books no more than 100 pages. |
| D．The writer thought the teacher was not being serious about the suggestion of reading. |
The underlined phrase "with finality" most probably means ____________.
| A．firmly | B．immediately | C．simply | D．pleasantly |
The writer's purpose in mentioning The Republic is to________.
| A．explain why it was included in the list |
| B．describe why he seriously crossed it off the list |
| C．show that he read the books blindly though they were hard to understand |
| D．prove that he understood most of it because he had looked at every word |
The writer provides two book lists to ________.
| A．show how he developed his point of view |
| B．tell his reading experience at high school |
| C．introduce the two persons' reading methods |
| D．explain that he read many books at high school |
Restoring the quakehit ecosystems is a question of balancing the interests of the local people and the environment. Rural methane (沼气) projects can reduce the number of locals taking firewood from the mountainsides. The use of straw as food for animals will ensure that vegetation(草木) can grow. In Sihai township and Dazhuangke village, in Beijing, they now have a forestry coverage of 85% or more, compared to the 30% they had 15 years ago. Back then, land was used very inefficiently: one person would use 20 mu of forest just for firewood. With those pressures on the ecosystem, no amount of spending on reforestation will succeed. Then the government relocated the population and paid those who remained to tend the forest and provide coal. This reduced the pressures on the ecosystem and it was able to recover naturally.
When an ecosystem has not been pushed past certain limits, it is able to recover on its own. Human involvement should only play a minor role, including after an earthquake. This is particularly the case for sandy grasslands, grasslands deserts, the mountains of the south and the northern sides of mountains in the north. In these areas soil remains and the water, light, heat and nutrients needed are available. Less human involvement is even more appropriate in areas with a small population, where it can avoid money being wasted on ineffective efforts, such as creating forests in dry areas.
The creation of nature reserves should be a model to allow damaged ecosystems to recover. Funding can start at the national level; centrallyfunded nature reserves can enforce environmental protection laws and help to promote the local economy. This will solve the problems of reserves being run to make money. When national reserves are funded, local governments will be able to adopt the same model and provide the funds for nature reserves from their own budgets. The first project should be established in nature reserves hit by the quake; these can then become models for other areas.To restore the quakehit ecosystem, government should ________.
| A．forbid locals from taking firewood from the mountainsides |
| B．encourage local people to feed their animals just with straw |
| C．spend large amounts of money relocating the population |
| D．protect the environment without harming locals' interests |
The forestry coverage in rural Beijing has increased greatly because ________.
| A．pressures on land were reduced | B．a large amount of coal is provided |
| C．no people live in that area | D．locals take good care of the forest |
According to the passage ________ play(s) a major role in ecosystem recovery.
| A．local people | B．nature itself |
| C．human involvement | D．government's effort |
According to the last paragraph, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Nature reserves could be helpful to recover the damaged ecosystems. |
| B．Centrallyfunded nature reserves are beneficial to local economy. |
| C．Some nature reserves are created for the purpose of making money. |
| D．The first projects on nature reserves should be set up in quakehit areas. |
 |
Apple iPad Mini Wi-Fi 16 GB - Black & Slate $329 online 71 reviews October 2012 - Apple - Handheld - 16 GB - iOS - Wi-Fi Only - 7.9 inch - With Camera - 10.9 ounces（1 pound ="16" ounces） With a touch screen and the ability to take an awesome 360-degree picture from the top of a mountain, its 7.9-inch display more than measures up to the complete iPad experience. View web pages. See where you are and what's around you using online maps. Flick（浏览） through your photos and watch videos in vivid detail. And wave hello to the family on a video call. With the same LED backlight technology and the same fast, fluid performance that the iPad is known for, the iPad Mini doesn't disappoint customers. And with automatic shake-resistant video, your videos are instantly ready to share. |
 |
Apple iPad 2 Wi-Fi 16 GB – Black $350 online 2,564 reviews March 2011 - Apple - Handheld - 16 GB - iOS - Wi-Fi Only - 9.7 inch - With Camera - 10 hour battery -1.32 pounds This device has two cameras, a dual-core（双核） A5 chip, and the same battery life – all in a thinner, lighter Multi-Touch design. It makes surfing the Web, checking email, watching movies, and reading books feel natural. LED backlighting makes everything you see remarkably vivid and bright. With every turn of the device (even upside down), the display adjusts to fit. It has a wide, 178° viewing angle. |
 |
Apple iPad 1 Wi-Fi 32 GB $600 online 454 reviews May 2010 - Apple - Handheld - 32 GB - iOS - Wi-Fi Only - 9.7 inch - 1.5 pounds Apple iPad 1 Wi-Fi is a magical and revolutionary product and the best way to experience the web, email, photos, and video. Taking advantage of the large multi-touch screen and advanced capabilities of the iPad, you can do things that you can't do on any other device. The high-resolution（分辨率）, 9.7-inch LED-backlit display on the iPad is remarkably vivid. Thin and light and with a wide viewing angle, it automatically locates available Wi-Fi networks. |
According to the advertisement, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．The Apple iPad 2 has a single core and 360-degree viewing angle. |
| B．The Apple iPad Mini can store as much information as the Apple iPad 2 can. |
| C．The Apple iPad Mini’s performance is disappointing compared to that of others. |
| D．The Apple iPad 1 is the oldest, the most expensive and the smallest of all three. |
According to the advertisement, which one probably attracts most attention?
| A．Apple iPad 2 | B．Apple iPad Mini |
| C．Apple iPad 1 | D．Dual-Core A5 |
We know from the advertisement that____________
| A．we can’t voice chat with friends using the Apple iPad Mini. |
| B．we need to locate available Apple iPad 1Wi-Fi networks ourselves. |
| C．with the Apple iPad Mini, your videos always remain relatively smooth. |
| D．the Apple iPad 2 display only adjusts when the device is turned upside down. |