Insurance companies provide a service to the community by protecting it against expected and unexpected disasters. Before an insurance company will agree to insure anything, it collects accurate figures about the risk. It knows, for example, that the risk of a man being killed in a plane accident is less than the risk he takes in crossing a busy road. This enables it to quote(报价) low figures for travel insurance. Sometimes the risk may be high, as in motor-racing or mountaineering. Then the company charges a much higher price. If too many climbers have accidents, the price rises further. If the majority of climbers fall off mountains, the company will refuse to insure them. An ordinary householder may wish to protect his home against fire or his property against burglary(入室行窃). A shopkeeper may wish to insure against theft. In normal cases, the company will check its statistics and quote a premium(保险费). If it is suspicious(可疑的), it may refuse to quote. If it insures a shop and then receives a suspicious claim, it will investigate the claim as a means of protecting itself against false claims. It is not unknown for a businessman in debt to burn down his own premises so that he can claim much money from his insurance company. He can be sure that the fire will be investigated most carefully. Insurance companies also accept insurance against shipwreck or disaster in the air. Planes and ships are very expensive, so a large premium is charged, but a reduction is given to companies with an accident-free record. Every week, insurance companies receive premium payments from customers. These payments can form a very large total running into millions of dollars. The company does not leave the money in the bank. It invests (投资) in property, shares (股票) , farms and even paintings and stamps. Its aim is to obtain the best possible return on its investment. This is not as greedy as it may seem since this is one way by which it can keep its premiums down and continue to make a profit while being of service to the community. (1). The main idea of the first paragraph is that . A.insurance companies protect the community against disasters B.insurance companies often collect accurate figures about the risk C.insurance companies base their decisions on the risk involved D.insurance companies charge different prices in the same cases (2). The insurance company will usually investigate a suspicious claim to . A.refuse to quote the insurance fee B.make sure that the claim is reasonable C.decide how much the company should pay D.find out when the accident happened (3). The underlined word "premises" in Paragraph 2 most probably means" " A.land and buildings B.insurance contract C.debt papers D.financial papers (4). The author's attitude towards customers' premium payments being used by insurance companies is _____ A.critical B.doubtful C.neutral D.positive (5). The purpose of this passage is to _____ A.explain how insurance companies operate B.encourage people to invest in insurance companies C.persuade people to insure against unexpected disasters D.advise people how to insure their life and property

Food insecurity is a defining characteristic of life for many of the world's poorest people. Emergency food aid has been the major international responses to crises, such as drought and famine for decades. However, it is much better that the emergency is addressed before it happens. Communities living in countries most affected by food shortages have long known about the key role that trees can play in reducing the need for conventional aid. The "famine food" of trees can keep drought-hit communities alive when all other food crops fail.The effects of climate change are making droughts more of a norm than an exception. This is a pattern that places some of the most vulnerable (脆弱的) communities in an increasingly unstable position when it comes to meeting basic food needs. By the time shortages and hunger in countries like Burkina Faso reach "emergency" levels and warrant (准许，授权) aid; families, communities, agricultural practices and lands will have suffered greatly. The G8 summit held in Italy at the beginning of July pledged 20 billion to support native food production to reduce the need for such emergency food aid. What is missing from this pledge is any mention of the key role that trees can play. "Conventional" crops are often not native and require expensive inputs, significant irrigation and land preparation in order to produce a successful harvest. This means that they are more vulnerable to droughts. For farmers in Africa's drylands, a failed harvest can mean months of malnutrition (营养不良) and hardship. Trees, on the other hand, often survive when other crops fail. Commonly seen by the West as "famine foods", tree foods already form a significant part of daily diets across rural Africa. Trees provide fruits, nuts, seeds, leaves, flowers, which can all be used as food. Data shows that nursing mothers produce more milk when they add Moringa leaves to their diet. The leaves can be dried and eaten during the hungry period, and animal fodder (饲料) from trees is also vital in producing milk and meat. This existing localised "emergency relief", is what the G8 funding must seek to strengthen.1. What can be a more reliable way to address food shortages caused by various crises?A) To introduce foreign crops.B) To develop native eatable plants. C) To grow more conventional crops.D) To get more emergency food aid.2. What can we learn from the sentence "The effects of climate change are making droughts more of a norm than an exception?" (Para. 3)A) Droughts happen frequently. B) Droughts worsened climate change.C) Climate change could have been prevented.D) Climate change is caused by human activities.3. Why can the "Famine Foods" of trees keep drought-hit communities alive?A) Because trees can survive and provide food. B) Because trees can grow tall and healthily.C) Because trees are sensitive to water.D) Because tress can keep people unaffected.4. What is "emergency relief" mentioned in the last paragraph?A) Emergency food aid.B) Conventional crops.C) Tree-based famine foods. D) Government's financial aid.5. What is the main idea of the passage?A) Trees help people survive droughts.B) Trees save people's lives.C) Trees are a vital food source. D) Conventional foods are giving way to trees.

Mythology refers to a collection of independent myths.A. 正确B. 错误

They built a fireplace to heat the small flat, but there were nights when the fire _ and they shivered under the blanket.A. went outB. went inC. went upD. went away

AYoga（瑜伽）is a kind of sport. It is very popular around the world now. Everyone, young and old can do yoga. It’s good for both men and women. Why do people like yoga? There’s a short answer and a long answer to that question. The short answer is that yoga makes you feel better and makes you healthier in body, mind and spirit. There’s more about the answer if you are interested. Yoga began in India about 5,000 years ago. At that time, people wanted to be free, healthy and live a long life, so this kind of exercise was born. The early yoga was part of a religion (宗教). It was usually taught one to one—one teacher with one student. Yoga is an Indian word that means“to join together”. There are three parts of yoga altogether: exercise, breathing and meditation (沉思). In the past, people paid more attention to the spirit. The idea be­hind the exercise was to join the mind, body and spirit as one. Yoga can give you peace, help you feel relaxed, and have fewer worries and illnesses. 【小题】(1) What is yoga? A.n old Indian sport. B.A European game. C.A popular idea. 【小题】(2) Which of the following is true? A.Yoga is good only for women. B.Anyone can practise yoga. C.Yoga can bring the world peace. 【小题】(3) Why do people like yoga? A.Because it helps you work more quickly. B.ecause it is part of the real religion. C.Because it is good for one’s health. 【小题】(4) In the past one yoga teacher taught _______. A.only one student B.a class of many students C.men and women together 【小题】(5) The three parts of yoga are________. A.mind, body, and spirit B.exercise, breathing and thinking C.having peace, feeling relaxed, and being healthy B One day in 1999, a Chinese man was having lunch in a US restaurant. Suddenly, the word“Alibaba”came into his mind. He asked a waitress:“What do you know about Alibaba?”The woman answered:“Alibaba and the 40 thieves.”“Yes, this is the name!”the man replied.The man was Jack Ma (Ma Yun). Later that year, he founded Alibaba, which would become China’s largest e-commerce (电子商业) company. After 15 years, Alibaba went public–selling shares (股份) of a private company to new investors (投资者)–on Sept 19. The 50-year-old became Chinese mainland’s richest man with a fortune of 150 billion yuan. Few Chinese people saw the Internet business’ potential (潜力) when Ma started Alibaba.He got the nickname“Crazy Jack Ma”.However, the man believed that everyone should live their dream.“The most important thing is that we believed in our dream from day one, to today and tomorrow. Of course we made many mistakes, but we never gave up hope,”Ma said. Ma’s business is not only focused on e-commerce. Alibaba has a large stake (股份) in Sina Weibo and Youku Tudou. He’s also on the board of China’s most successful soccer club, Guangzhou Evergrande. Now, Ma is dreaming even bigger.“We have a dream. We hope in the next 15 years that the world changes because of us,”he said. 【小题】(6) What did the waitress know about Alibaba? A.She know it was a e-commerce company. B.She Knew nothing about it. C.She knew it was a clever man of a story Alibaba and the 40 thieves 【小题】(7) When was Ma Yun born? A.In 1999 B.In 2014 C.In 1964 【小题】(8) What does the underlined word“fortune”mean? A.命运 B.财富 C.成功 【小题】(9) What is the most important to success according to Ma Yun? A.Believing in his dream. B.Making some mistakes. C.Being crazy. 【小题】(10) Which of the following statements is TRUE? A.libaba has a large stake in Sina Weibo ,Youku, Tudou,Leshi. B.Guangzhou Evergrande is a soccer team founded by Alibaba. C.Alibaba hope that the world changes because of them in the next 15 years . CAre you still using text messages or QQ to chat with your family or friends? If your answer is“yes”, we have to say you are out. A new way of communicating called“WeChat”has been more and more popular in the past three years. WeChat is a mobile text and voice messaging communication service developed by Tencent in China, first released in January 2011. With WeChat, we can communicate with friends by sending text messages, voice messages, we can share our photos or videos, share our location, we can even chat with lots of friends at the same time. More important, it is free for the users. In May 2011, WeChat had four to five million users, and by the end of 2011, it had 50 million users. WeChat had more than 100 million users by March 2012. In April 2012, Weixin changes its name as WeChat for the international market. In September 2012, WeChat had more than 200 million users according to Tencent CEO, Ma Huateng. Today WeChat has influence not only in mainland China, HK, Taiwan, South-East Asia, but Chinese People areas around the world. In July 2013, Tencent announced WeChat had 70 million users outside China and Lionel Messi, the famous Argentine football player became the latest product ambassador of WeChat. In a word, WeChat is a lifestyle now. Do you WeChat today? 【小题】(11) According to the passage, we can do many things with WeChat EXCEPT ______. A.text messages B.share location C.shop for free 【小题】(12) The underline word“release”here means ________ in Chinese. A.发布 B.设置 C.释放 【小题】(13) How many users did WeChat have outside China in July 2013? A.70 million. B.50 million. C.100 million. 【小题】(14) Who is the CEO of Tencent? A.Lionel Messi. B.Ma Yun. C.Ma Huateng. 【小题】(15) Where do you probably read this message? A.National Geography. B.Trend & Health. C.New Science and Technology.

【题目】-|||-同读理解-|||-Polyester(聚酯)is now being used for bottles.ICl,the-|||-hemicals and plastics company,believes-|||-hat it is now beginning to break the control of glass on the bottle-|||-usiness and thus take advantage of-|||-his huge market.-|||-All the plastics manufacturers have been experiencing hard-|||-imes as their traditional products have-|||-een doing badly worldwide for the last few years.Between 1982-|||-nd 1984 the Plastics Division of-|||-CI had lost a hundred and twenty million dollars,and they felt-|||-hat the most hopeful new market was-|||-n packaging, bottles and cans.-|||-Since 1982 it has opened three new factories producing-|||-Melinar",the raw material from which-|||-igh quality polyester bottles are made.-|||-The polyester bottle was born in the 1970s,when soft drinks-|||-ompanies like Coca Cola started-|||-elling their drinks in giant two liter containers.Because of the-|||-uild-up of the pressure of gas in these-|||-arge containers, glass was unsuitable.Nor was PVC. the plastic-|||-vhich had been used for bottles since-|||-he 1960s,suitable for drinks with gas in them.A new plastic had-|||-o be made.-|||-Glass Is still cheaper for the smaller bottles, and will continue-|||-o be so upless oll and plastic become-|||-nuch cheaper, but plastic does well for the larger sizes.-|||-Polyester bottles are virtually unbreakable.The nanufacturers-|||-laim they are also lighter,less noisy-|||-when being handled,and can be reused. Shopkeepers and other-|||-usiness people are unlikely to object-|||-o a change from glass to polyester,since these bottles mean few-|||-reakages, which are costly and-|||-ime-consumlng.The public,though, have been more difficult to-|||-ersuade. ICI`s commercial department-|||-s developing different bottles with interesting shapes,to try and-|||-nake them visually more attractive to-|||-he public.-|||-The next step could be to develop a plastic which could-|||-eplace tins for food.The problem here is-|||-he high temperatures necessary for cooking the food in the-|||-ontainer.-|||-Plastics of various kinds have been used for making-|||-ottles __ →-|||-.since the 1970s but only for large bottles-|||-.since the 1960s but not for liquids with gas in them-|||-).since companies like Coca Cola first tried them-|||-.since 1982-|||-.Why is ICl`s Plastics Division interested in polyester for bottles?-|||-.The other things they make are not selling well.-|||-.Glass manufact cturers cannot make enough new bottles.-|||-.They have factories which could be adapted to make it.-|||-).The price of oil keeps changing.-|||-.Manufacturers think polyester bottles are better than glass-|||-ottles because they __ _,-|||-.are cheaper-|||-.are more suited to small sizes-|||-.are more exciting to look at-|||-).do not break easily-|||-.Plastic containers for holding food in the same way as-|||-ans. __ .-|||-.have been used for many years-|||-.are an idea that interests the plastics companies-|||-.are possible,but only for hot food-|||-.are the first things being made in the new factories

The earliest process of making paper was done almost 5,000 years ago in Egypt and the Nile Valley. In those days, paper was made from strips of the papyrus plant. Modern paper-making began in China about 2,000 years ago. This process produced paper from cloth, straw, wood or the bark of trees. The raw materials are struck over and over until they become loose. Then they are mixed with water. After the water has been removed, the flat, thin form remaining is permitted to dry. This becomes a sheet of paper. Large machines started to be used for making paper near the end of the 16th century. Today, paper-making is a big business. But it is still possible to make paper by hand, since the steps are the same as using big machines. You should choose paper with small amounts of printing. Old envelopes are good for this reason. Colored paper also can be used, as well as small amounts of newspaper. Small pieces of rags or cloth can be added. These should be cut into pieces about 5 centimeters by 5 centimeters. Everything is placed in a container, covered with water, and brought to a boil. It is mixed for about 2 hours with some common chemicals and then allowed to cool. Then it is left until most of the water dries up. The substance left, called pulp, can be stored until you are ready to make paper. When you are ready, the pulp is mixed with water again. Then the pulp is poured into a special box or mold. The mold is made of small squares of wire that hold the shape and thickness of the paper. To help dry the paper, the mold lets the water flow through the small wire squares. After several more drying steps, the paper is carefully lifted back from the mold. It is now strong enough to be touched. The paper is smoothed and pressed to remove trapped air. You can use a common electric iron used for pressing clothes.What is mentioned about the earliest process of making paper A. Its procedures.B. Its influences.C. Its purposes.D. Its materials.

When Sally Ride was ten years old, she had no idea that she would some day grow up to be one of America’s first woman astronauts. In fact, if you had asked her then what wanted to be, she would have said, “ I want to play shortstop for the Los Angeles Dodgers.” Sally collected baseball cards by the boxful, and she knew the name and batting average (击球率)of every player in the National League.But major league baseball didn’t seem much of a possibility for a girl, even an athletic one like Sally, so her father and mother talked her into taking tennis lessons when she was twelve. At first she hated to trade in her baseball bat for a tennis racket, but it wasn’t long before she started to win tournaments in her new sport. “ Tennis became much more fun when I started winning,” Sally remembers. Soon a row of trophies （奖牌）replaced her box of baseball cards, and tennis star Billie Jean King replaced Dodger shortstop Maury Wills as her sports idol.Sally first became interested in the space program in 1962 when astronaut John Glenn orbited the earth in his Mercury space capsule. Sally was ten years old at the time, but she remembers the launch and the splashdown (掉落) as if they happened yesterday. The girl who used to memorize batting averages became a space fan. She quickly learned the name of every NASA astronaut(there were only eight of them in 1962), the date of every launch, and the name and number of every spacecraft from Freedom 7 to Skylab 3. She could tell you the speed of light (186,300 miles per second), the distance to the moon (238,860 miles), and the names of the three nearest stars( the Sun, Alpha Centauri, and Barnard’s Star).By the time she was sixteen, Sally had decided to become an astrophysicist, a scientist who studies space. She had also become a nationally ranked tennis player. She remembers yawning（打哈欠） through an important tennis match on June 20, 1969, after staying up all night to watch Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. Sally lost the match.As Sally got older, many of her friends started playing professional tennis. Some of them tried to talk her into quitting school to join them on the professional tennis circuit. But Sally said no. “ Black holes are more interesting to me than backhands,” she told them. Now she knows that she made the right choice, but in 1970 Sally had no way of knowing that NASA would open the space program to women.【小题1】At the age of twelve, Sally Ride ________.A．was interested in playing tennisB．was persuaded into taking tennis trainingC．began to become interested in spaceD．decided to become an astrophysicist【小题2】Sally Ride lost the match on June, 1969 just because________.A．she was tiredB．she couldn’t decide whether to be an astrophysicistC．she couldn’t decide whether to take part in a professional tennis circuitD．she wasn’t interested in tennis【小题3】From the story we know that Sally ________.A．had been a professional baseball playerB．had never been a professional playerC．had never been a woman astrophysicistD．wasn’t interested in space program【小题4】A capsule is ________. A．the name of the neareast starB．a place where the American astronauts and the crew workC．a place where astronauts and the crew are trainedD．a container of the crew and astronauts detached(分离) from a rocket【小题5】Which of the following is True according to the passage?A．According to the story, Sally Ride is a woman astrophysicist.B．The ambition of becoming a woman astronaut was made in Sally’s childhood.C．Freedom 7 and Skylab 3 are the names of the nearest stars.D．Sally didn’t quit her schooling at the time as she knew sooner or later NASA would hire woman astronaut.

[听力文本资源]When he addresses a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, President Trump is expected to outline some of his plans for rebuilding the nation’s crumbling infrastructure.And he will likely repeat his commitment to “buy American and hire American”, as he repeated often during the campaign and since taking office.But what exactly does that mean for state departments of transportation and the contractors who build transportation projects?“I think for the most part that means business as usual,” says Jim Tymon, chief operating officer for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.“There are already requirements in federal law that require state departments of transportation and local transit agencies to buy American products as they construct infrastructure projects around the country,” he says.Those requirements, actually called “buy America” in federal law, were first put in place in the late 1970s after the collapse of the steel industry. They were gradually expanded to include almost all federal grant-funded transportation projects.[听力文本资源]1. [听力文本资源] What is the news report mainly about? [听力文本资源]A) President Trump’s plan to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure.B) The federal law encouraging people to buy American products.C) The transportation departments’ plan to construct infrastructure projects.D) Requirements of buying American products for infrastructure projects. 2. [听力文本资源] What do we know about President Trump’s plan from the news? [听力文本资源]A) It aims to boost employment rate in the U.S.B) It will benefit the collapsed steel industry in the U.S.C) It is not favored by state departments of transportation.D) It will not reshape the infrastructure business.