A winter wonderland on the outskirts of Quebec City has become one of Canada's hottest attractions and most sought out accommodations. Guests stay close for warmth in sleeping bags on beds of ice, hats pulled over their ears to prevent frostbite, while sipping cocktails (鸡尾酒) in glasses also made of ice.
A cool place to host a memorable wedding or for a romantic getaway, the Quebec Ice Hotel has attracted 600,000 curious tourists, including 30,000 who stayed overnight, since opening seasonally 11 years ago. Like Victoria and Jeremy Martin, dozens of couples will exchange vows (誓约) this winter in a temporary church next to the hotel, sculpted entirely from blocks of ice with seats covered in furs.
Average temperatures fall below minus 20 degrees C (minus four F) in winter, but inside the hotel's 36 rooms it is relatively cozy. Thick walls of packed snow and ice act as an insulator, trapping body heat inside. Each room is uniquely decorated, using designs created by Quebec architecture students.Two hotel bars also sell special cocktails in ice glasses.
First-time guests of the hotel, however, are recommended to stay only one night as sleeping in sub-zero temperatures is not very refreshing. This year for the first time the ice hotel has teamed up with a bricks and concrete Quebec City hotel to offer packages for one-night accommodations at each. Prices for one night only at the ice hotel start at 200 US dollars per person.
The 3,000-square-metre (32,300-square-feet) buildings take six weeks starting in December to build, using 15,000 tonnes of snow and 500 tonnes of ice, at a cost of some 750,000 US dollars. Eleven weeks after its seasonal grand opening, the hotel will close on March 27 and then melt away with the arrival of spring.What is true with the ice hotel?
| A．630,000 people have visited it. |
| B．30,000 people visit it each year. |
| C．It has stayed open for many years. |
| D．Wedding ceremonies are often held there. |
What can we learn about the hotel rooms?
A. It can be -20°C inside.
B. The temperature is always below 0°C.
C. The rooms all look alike.
D. Each room costs $200 per night.First-time guests are advised to stay there only one night because _____.
| A．they may not be able to stand the cold |
| B．their other night is with an ordinary hotel |
| C．new guests have less advantages over old ones |
| D．the first-day service is just for a test run |
If you choose to visit the ice hotel during the Christmas season, you'll find _____.
| A．it doesn't exist at all |
| B．it is just being built |
| C．most of its rooms are vacant |
| D．it is crowded with guests |
My mother, Marisol Torres, came with her family to Australia in the early 1960s. Then my parents’ marriage ended and Mum began the study of precious stones. Her interest in opals (猫眼石) took her to the New South Wales remote town of Lightning Ridge. There were no luxuries (奢华的享受), but she was closer to nature and had a chance to find black opals and make some money.
My mother was beautiful with dark hair and brown eyes, but she was also quiet and shy. Early in the Ridge years, she kept to herself, but later, she started going to the neighbourhood centre to make friends.
It was her dream to mine, but her get-rich-quick thinking was unrealistic. She was cheated and she was never very successful. But she kept a sense of humour and a charming smile.
Then, just as friendships began to blossom, she was diagnosed with cancer and had to return south for treatment. She had the intention of cooking Spanish food as special treat for her Ridge friends, but died too soon. In her honour, my aunt, Marisa, and I fulfilled her desire when we visited the Ridge in March last year.
People who mine the Ridge come from a cross section of society, from lawyers to travels. Looks don’t mean much: it can be hard to tell who is millionaire and who is poor. Opals attracted Sebastian and Hanna Deisenberger to Lightning Ridge. They planned a two-year stay, but became permanent residents.
Then there’s Neil Schellnegger, 45, who moved to the area with his parents when he was a child. He lives with his son, Luke. Luke is a shy 19-year-old boy who enjoys helping his dad. They haven’t had much luck over the past couple of years, but their passion for opals conquers disappointment. They love the peaceful lifestyle.
Danny Hatcher, 38, is a second-generation miner and president of the Lightning Ridge Miners’ Association. He is an optimistic man, driven by the desire to find the perfect opal. “It’s magic,” he explains. “Once you start opal mining you don’t want to do anything else… There is always the potential for finding a million dollars. Nothing beats it.”
It’s a place where dreams --- spiritual or material --- can be fulfilled; a place, for one last bet in life. What made the author’s mother go to Lightning Ridge?
| A．The luxurious life there. | B．Her new marriage there. |
| C．Her interest in opals. | D．Her passion for nature. . |
After the author’s mother died, she fulfilled her desire by __________.
| A．treating her mother’s Ridge friends with Spanish food |
| B．writing a biography about her whole life |
| C．decorating her house in Lightning Ridge |
| D．finding a lot of black opals in Lightning Ridge |
We know from the passage that _________.
| A．the rich and the poor can be distinguished by their looks |
| B．Luke is a successful miner, just like his father |
| C．Sebastian is planning to leave Lightning Ridge |
| D．Danny Hatcher’s parents were miners in Lightning Ridge |
Lightning Ridge is a place where dreams can be fulfilled because __________.
| A．there are precious stones and life is peaceful |
| B．there are people from all walks of life |
| C．there are rich people who can help poor people |
| D．there is a lot of gold hidden in the ground |
What is the author’s purpose of giving Neil Schellnegger and Danny Hatcher as examples?
| A．To show the magic power of opal mining. |
| B．To tell people it isn’t always hard to mine opals. |
| C．To warn people not to take up this kind of job. |
| D．To persuade people to look for more resources for the country. |
阅读下面短文并回答问题，然后将答案写到答题卡相应的位置上(请注意问题后的词数要求)。
[1] Weeks after his wife died, Rao Pingru started to paint pictures of her. From the first time he saw her putting on makeup in a mirror, to their wedding at which they promised “to love and cherish”, to her lying in bed on her final days – all the images of their nearly 60 – year marriage have been food for his art.
[2] “ When I create her with brushstrokes, she is there, and our story doesn’t perish,(死亡)” said Rao, 91, a retired military man and former editor. He has filled 18 albums of drawings in the past four years, which he called Our Story.
[3] At first, the Jiangxi native was only trying to pass time and leave something so his grandchildren could “know about their grandparents” who have been through war, poverty, sickness and, perhaps most importantly, love.
[4] Rao met Meitang as a blind date when he came back from war in 1946. “ It’s a strange thing. You just have to meet the right person to have that feeling,” he said, thinking of how lovely she was. During their early dates, Rao _________________ “the three words”. Instead, he sang a pop song of the time, Rosemary, I love you, to express his feelings, on a park bench in Nanchang, Jiangxi province.
[5] The first two years of their marriage was “ the sweetest time” of Rao’s life, as he recalled, in spite of the turbulence following the war. The couple adopted a happy – go – lucky policy wherever they traveled, worked and lived. They managed to escape robbery by hiding their possessions in tires while Rao was working in Guizhou province.What is the main idea of the passage? (no more than 12 words)
__________________________________________________________________What does the underlined word “ food”(Para 1) refer to? (no more than 9 words)
__________________________________________________________________Why did Rao begin his drawings? (no more than 16 words)
__________________________________________________________________Please fill in the blank (Para 4)with proper words to complete the sentence. (no more than 5 words)
___________________________________________________________________What is Rao and his wife’s attitude towards life? (no more than 4words)
___________________________________________________________________
Once in a blue moon,(极为罕见) there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial(天空的) neighbor. A full moon occurred on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.
The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.
“Blue moons have no astronomical significance,” said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California. “`Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a `hunter's moon'(a full moon in octorber) or a `harvest moon,'” Laughlin said in an e-mail.
The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac(年历) defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons.What’s the color of blue moon?
| A．blue | B．golden | C．green | D．red |
If you are in China, in which month can you see the blue moon?
| A．December, 2009 | B．November, 2009 |
| C．January, 2010 | D．February, 2010 |
Compared with the hunters moon, the blue moon ________ .
| A．is more beautiful | B．is rarer | C．is larger | D．is brighter |
Which full moon should be called blue moon according to the original definition?
| A．The second full moon in a month with two full moons. |
| B．The third full moon in a month with three full moons. |
| C．The second full moon in a season with four full moons. |
| D．The third full moon in a season with four full moons. |
What would be the best title for the passage ?
| A．Rare New Year’s Eve Blue Moon to Ring in 2010 |
| B．Blue Moon to Take Us Good Fortune |
| C．The Best Time to Observe Blue Moon |
| D．The Reason for Blue Moon’s Appearing |
Teenagers are under a lot of pressure to be thin. They resort to starving, vomiting and eating only diet foods to try and be thin. Television is a big influence on them. They watch shows like Beverly Hills 90210 andMelrose Place and feel they need to look as thin as the actresses on these shows. Society is brainwashing young people into believing that being thin is important and necessary.
Diet commercials are constantly appearing on our television screens telling us that once we lose weight, we will be happy. While you’re standing at the grocery store you are surrounded by magazines claiming to have the newest and best diet. Each month another new diet appears claiming to be the diet to end all diets. If diets really worked, then why are there so many of them? The reason a new diet pops up each month, is that last’s month’s diets did not work. The truth of the matter is that DIETS DON’T WORK.
The diet and fashion industries are not totally to blame for society’s obsession with thinness. We are the ones keeping them in business. We buy into the idea that we can attain the “ideal” body image. We allow ourselves to believe the lies being thrown at us constantly. We are throwing away our hard earned money trying to live up to the standards that society has set for us. It’s unfortunate, but in today’s society, people have forgotten that it’s what’s inside a person that counts, not what’s on the outside. We need to start loving and accepting each other for who we are, not what we look like.
Once again, I would like to stress the fact that diets don’t work. Eating three healthy meals a day, a few snacks and doing moderate exercise, will allow your body to go to its natural set point. Next time you decide that you are going to start another diet because you feel you are too fat, stop, sign up for a self-esteem class instead. That would be money well spent.What are Beverly Hills 90210 and Meltrose Place ?
| A．Fashion shows. | B．Two famous place in America. |
| C．Popular TV shows. | D．Two TV channels. |
According to the author, which of the following statements is NOT true ?
| A．Our society is flooded with diet commercials. |
| B．The latest diet is necessarily better than all the previous ones. |
| C．People in North America become crazy over Dieting. |
| D．All diets are useless in fact |
Why are there so many diets popping up according to the second paragraph?
| A．Because teenagers are under a lot of pressure to be thin. |
| B．Because there are more and more fat teenagers. |
| C．Because the diets have no effect. |
| D．Because teenagers are fascinated by the newest and best diet. |
We can infer from this passage that __________ .
| A．if your diet doesn’t work, the only thing you can do is to accept your body image . |
| B．attending a self-esteem class will help you keep fit. |
| C．we shouldn’t pay attention to the size of our body. |
| D．what’s inside a person is much more important than his/her appearance. |
What’s the function of the last paragraph in the whole text ?
| A．persuasion | B．summarization | C．argumentation | D．description |
Dr. Sylvia Earle wants you to stop eating fish. It's not because fish are endangered, though wild fish stocks in many oceans are very low. It's not because they're bad for you, though fish in many areas are exposed to poisonous substances in the water. It’s because they're smart.
"Fish are sensitive, they have personalities," says the marine biologist. For Earle, eating a fish would be like eating a dog or a cat. "I would never eat anyone I know personally."
There's a lot more to fish than meets the eye: they talk to each other, they like to be touched, and they engage in behavior that can seem very human. They can remember things and learn from experience. Earle and a growing number of animal rights activists see these as strong arguments against eating fish altogether.
The activists also point out that fish feel pain and fish suffer horribly on their way from the sea to the supermarket. "While it may seem conspicuous that fish are able to feel pain, like every other animal, some people think of fish as swimming vegetables," says Dr. Lynne Sneddon. "Really, it's kind of a moral question. Is the enjoyment you get from fishing (or eating fish) more important than the pain of the fish?"
Fishermen and (fried) fish lovers are skeptical. "I've never seen a smart fish," says Marie Swaringen as she finishes off a plate of fish at a Seattle seafood restaurant. "If they were very smart, they wouldn't get caught."
"For years, everyone's been telling us to eat fish because it's so good for us," says another diner. "Now I've got to feel guilty while I'm eating my fish? What are they going to think of next? Don't eat salad because cucumbers have feelings?"According to Dr. Sylvia Earle, he would stop eating fish as a result of the following reasons EXCEPT ___________ .
| A．Fish are sensitive and have personalities |
| B．He knows fish very well |
| C．Fish are dangerous to eat because the water is polluted |
| D．Fish are clever |
Dr. Lynne Sneddon describes the behavior of eating fish in a(n) _______ tone.
| A．opposed | B．optimistic | C．indifferent | D．supportive |
Which word below can take the place of the underlined word “conspicuous” in Paragraph 4?
| A．obvious | B．easy | C．impossible | D．necessary |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _____________ .
| A．Human beings should stop eating fish |
| B．We would feel guilty if we continued eating fish |
| C．People eat fish because fish are delicious |
| D．Cucumber is a kind of vegetable or fruit |
What was the author’s purpose when writing this passage?
| A．To advise people to stop eating fish. |
| B．To introduce a topic of whether people should eat fish. |
| C．To advise people not to stop eating fish. |
| D．To tell us that fish will feel pain when caught and transported. |