Alexis was hot and tired. With rage in her voice she shouted, "Pull me up！I give up, I hate this. This is stupid!" It was at that moment when Jason, the adviser on the trip, looked at me and said, "Ed, I'm going to go down and talk with her." I then shouted down to Alexis, "Hold on! You can do this. We know you can!"
Jason grasped another rope, put his climbing harness(系带)on and began to repel down the cliff. Within moments Jason was beside Alexis. She had her cheek directly against the face of the rock with her feet barely resting on a small piece of the cliff that jetted outward. Jason said to Alexis, "I know that you have been on this cliff now for what seems like a long time. Your feet and fingers are cramping(痉挛)up and your forearms feel as though they are on fire. But , Alexis, you are strong, look how far up you are already. You have taken one of the more difficult paths up the cliff. Look Alexis, look at the path you have taken."
At that moment, Alexis moved her cheek away from the rock face and looked down. The bright white chalk she used on her hands to give her a better hold, showed the path where her tired hands had moved her upward on the cliff. Jason was right. Alexis had taken the hardest way up the cliff. Jason then looked straight into Alexis' eyes and in a calm voice he said, "You are not alone out here, there are people who care about you, who want to help you and see you succeed. We are going to do this together. Are you ready?" Slowly she shook her head yes and took a deep breath.Jason went down the cliff because _________.
| A．Alexis took a wrong path | B．Alexis was trapped in rocks |
| C．Alexis didn't believe in herself | D．Alexis' forearms were badly hurt |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．Alexis was finally pulled up by Ed |
| B．Alexis regretted having taken the wrong path up the cliff |
| C．Alexis was immediately sent to hospital after she was pulled up |
| D．Alexis successfully rock climbed |
The underlined word "hot" in the story means _________.
| A．disappointed | B．angry | C．uncomfortable | D．running a high body temperature |
Alexis would probably become _________.
| A．more strong-minded | B．easier to give up |
| C．poorer in health | D．less interested in rock climbing |
阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。
Do you ever get to the train station and realize you forgot to bring something to read? Yes, we all have our phones, but many of us still like to go old school and read something printed.
Well, there’s a kiosk（小亭）for that. In the San Francisco Bay Area, at least.
“You enter the fare gates（检票口）and you’ll see a kiosk that is lit up and it tells you can get a one-minute, a three-minute, or a five-minute story,” says Alicia Trost, the chief communications officer for the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit — known as BART. “You choose which length you want and it gives you a receipt-like short story.”
It’s that simple. Riders have printed nearly 20,000 short stories and poems since the program was launched last March. Some are classic short stories, and some are new original works.
Trost also wants to introduce local writers to local riders. “We wanted to do something where we do a call to artists in the Bay Area to submit stories for a contest,” Trost says. “And as of right now, we’ve received about 120 submissions. The winning stories would go into our kiosk and then you would be a published artist.”
Ridership on transit（交通）systems across the country has been down the past half century, so could short stories save transit?
Trost thinks so.
“At the end of the day all transit agencies right now are doing everything they can to improve the rider experience. So I absolutely think we will get more riders just because of short stories,” she says.
And you’ll never be without something to read.
（1）Why did BART start the kiosk program?
| A． |
To promote the local culture. |
B． |
To discourage phone use. |
| C． |
To meet passengers’ needs. |
D． |
To reduce its running costs. |
（2）How are the stories categorized in the kiosk?
| A． |
By popularity. |
B． |
By length. |
| C． |
By theme. |
D． |
By language. |
（3）What has Trost been doing recently?
| A． |
Organizing a story contest. |
B． |
Doing a survey of customers. |
| C． |
Choosing a print publisher. |
D． |
Conducting interviews with artists. |
（4）What is Trost’s opinion about BART’s future?
| A． |
It will close down. |
B． |
Its profits will decline. |
| C． |
It will expand nationwide. |
D． |
Its ridership will increase. |
阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。
Choice of Walks for Beginner and Experienced Walkers
The Carlow Autumn Walking Festival is a great opportunity for the beginner, experienced or advanced walker to enjoy the challenges of Carlow’s mountain hikes or the peace of its woodland walks.
Walk 1 — The Natural World
With environmentalist Éanna Lamhna as the guide, this walk promises to be an informative tour. Walkers are sure to learn lots about the habitats and natural world of the Blackstairs.
Date and Time: Saturday, 1st October, at 09:00
Start Point: Scratoes Bridge
Walk Duration: 6 hours
Walk 2 — Introduction to Hillwalking
Emmanuel Chappard, an experienced guide, has a passion for making the great outdoors accessible to all. This mountain walk provides an insight into the skills required for hillwalking to ensure you get the most from future walking trips.
Date and Time: Sunday, 2nd October, at 09:00
Start Point: Deerpark Car Park
Walk Duration: 5 hours
Walk 3 — Moonlight Under the Stars
Walking at night-time is a great way to step out of your comfort zone. Breathtaking views of the lowlands of Carlow can be enjoyed in the presence of welcoming guides from local walking clubs. A torch（手电筒）along with suitable clothing is essential for walking in the dark. Those who are dressed inappropriately will be refused permission to participate.
Date and Time: Saturday, 1st October, at 18:30
Start Point: The Town Hall
Walk Duration: 3 hours
Walk 4 — Photographic Walk in Kilbrannish Forest
This informative walk led by Richard Smyth introduces you to the basic principles of photography in the wild. Bring along your camera and enjoy the wonderful views along this well-surfaced forest path.
Date and Time: Sunday, 2nd October, at 11:45
Start Point: Kilbrannish Forest Recreation Area
Walk Duration: 1.5 hours
（1）Which walk takes the shortest time?
| A． |
The Natural World. |
B． |
Introduction to Hillwalking. |
| C． |
Moonlight Under the Stars. |
D． |
Photographic Walk in Kilbrannish Forest. |
（2）What are participants in Walk 3 required to do?
| A． |
Wear proper clothes. |
B． |
Join a walking club. |
| C． |
Get special permits. |
D． |
Bring a survival guide. |
（3）What do the four walks have in common?
| A． |
They involve difficult climbing. |
B． |
They are for experienced walkers. |
| C． |
They share the same start point. |
D． |
They are scheduled for the weekend. |
阅读下面短文，从短文后的选项中选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Not all great writers are great spellers. If you want to be published, it’s vital to submit a perfect, professionally presented manuscript（原稿）. （1） No editor is likely to tolerate a writer who does not take the trouble to spell words correctly.
I keep two reference books close-by on my desk: dictionary and thesaurus（同义词词典）. I don’t trust my laptop’s spellchecker. （2） Of course, these days there are plenty of online dictionaries and thesauruses, but I’m old-fashioned enough to prefer a hard cover and pages I can leaf through with my fingers. I use the Concise Oxford Dictionary and the Collins Thesaurus.
（3） It should give you a precise definition of each word, thus differentiating it from other words whose meanings are similar, but not identical. It will also usually show how the word is pronounced.
In addition, I have an old two-volume copy of the Shorter Oxford Dictionary, picked up a few years ago in a bookshop sale for just 99 pence. Of course, with its 2,672 pages, it’s not exactly short. It contains around 163,000 words, plus word combinations and idiomatic phrases. （4） However, if I need to check the origin of a word or to look up examples of its usage, there’s nothing better.
For well over a hundred years the most influential English dictionary was Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language published in 1755. “To make dictionaries is dull（乏味）work,”wrote Johnson, illustrating one definition of“dull”. （5） A few minutes spent casting your eye over a page or two can be a rewarding experience.
|
A. I don’t often use this dictionary. B. It takes no account of the context. C. But I still don’t want to replace them. D. But a dictionary can be a pleasure to read. E. Of course, a dictionary is not only for spelling. F. That means good grammar and no spelling mistakes. G. Dictionaries don’t always give you enough information. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。
In the race to document the species on Earth before they go extinct, researchers and citizen scientists have collected billions of records. Today, most records of biodiversity are often in the form of photos, videos, and other digital records. Though they are useful for detecting shifts in the number and variety of species in an area, a new Stanford study has found that this type of record is not perfect.
“With the rise of technology it is easy for people to make observations of different species with the aid of a mobile application,” said Barnabas Daru, who is lead author of the study and assistant professor of biology in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences. “These observations now outnumber the primary data that comes from physical specimens（标本）, and since we are increasingly using observational data to investigate how species are responding to global change, I wanted to know: Are they usable?”
Using a global dataset of 1.9 billion records of plants, insects, birds, and animals, Daru and his team tested how well these data represent actual global biodiversity patterns.
“We were particularly interested in exploring the aspects of sampling that tend to bias（使有偏差）data, like the greater likelihood of a citizen scientist to take a picture of a flowering plant instead of the grass right next to it,” said Daru.
Their study revealed that the large number of observation-only records did not lead to better global coverage. Moreover, these data are biased and favor certain regions, time periods, and species. This makes sense because the people who get observational biodiversity data on mobile devices are often citizen scientists recording their encounters with species in areas nearby. These data are also biased toward certain species with attractive or eye-catching features.
What can we do with the imperfect datasets of biodiversity?
“Quite a lot,” Daru explained. “Biodiversity apps can use our study results to inform users of oversampled areas and lead them to places — and even species — that are not well-sampled. To improve the quality of observational data, biodiversity apps can also encourage users to have an expert confirm the identification of their uploaded image.”
（1）What do we know about the records of species collected now?
| A． |
They are becoming outdated. |
B． |
They are mostly in electronic form. |
| C． |
They are limited in number. |
D． |
They are used for public exhibition. |
（2）What does Daru’s study focus on?
| A． |
Threatened species. |
B． |
Physical specimens. |
| C． |
Observational data. |
D． |
Mobile applications. |
（3）What has led to the biases according to the study?
| A． |
Mistakes in data analysis. |
B． |
Poor quality of uploaded pictures. |
| C． |
Improper way of sampling. |
D． |
Unreliable data collection devices. |
（4）What is Daru’s suggestion for biodiversity apps?
| A． |
Review data from certain areas. |
B． |
Hire experts to check the records. |
| C． |
Confirm the identity of the users. |
D． |
Give guidance to citizen scientists. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。
Is comprehension the same whether a person reads a text onscreen or on paper? And are listening to and viewing content as effective as reading the written word when covering the same material? The answers to both questions are often “no”. The reasons relate to a variety of factors, including reduced concentration, an entertainment mindset（心态）and a tendency to multitask while consuming digital content.
When reading texts of several hundred words or more, learning is generally more successful when it’s on paper than onscreen. A large amount of research confirms this finding. The benefits of print reading particularly shine through when experimenters move from posing simple tasks — like identifying the main idea in a reading passage — to ones that require mental abstraction — such as drawing inferences from a text.
The differences between print and digital reading results are partly related to paper’s physical properties. With paper, there is a literal laying on of hands, along with the visual geography of distinct pages. People often link their memory of what they’ve read to how far into the book it was or where it was on the page.
But equally important is the mental aspect. Reading researchers have proposed a theory called “shallowing hypothesis（假说）”. According to this theory, people approach digital texts with a mindset suited to social media, which are often not so serious, and devote less mental effort than when they are reading print.
Audio（音频）and video can feel more engaging than text, and so university teachers increasingly turn to these technologies — say, assigning an online talk instead of an article by the same person. However, psychologists have demonstrated that when adults read news stories, they remember more of the content than if they listen to or view identical pieces.
Digital texts, audio and video all have educational roles, especially when providing resources not available in print. However, for maximizing learning where mental focus and reflection are called for, educators shouldn’t assume all media are the same, even when they contain identical words.
（1）What does the underlined phrase “shine through” in paragraph 2 mean?
| A． |
Seem unlikely to last. |
B． |
Seem hard to explain. |
| C． |
Become ready to use. |
D． |
Become easy to notice. |
（2）What does the shallowing hypothesis assume?
| A． |
Readers treat digital texts lightly. |
B． |
Digital texts are simpler to understand. |
| C． |
People select digital texts randomly. |
D． |
Digital texts are suitable for social media. |
（3）Why are audio and video increasingly used by university teachers?
| A． |
They can hold students’ attention. |
B． |
They are more convenient to prepare. |
| C． |
They help develop advanced skills. |
D． |
They are more informative than text. |
（4）What does the author imply in the last paragraph?
| A． |
Students should apply multiple learning techniques. |
| B． |
Teachers should produce their own teaching material. |
| C． |
Print texts cannot be entirely replaced in education. |
| D． |
Education outside the classroom cannot be ignored. |