Barrier Islands
Texas has an extensive coastline that runs along the Gulf of Mexico. If you look closely at the map, you’ll notice that there are narrow islands located just off the coast of Texas. These are called barrier islands.
Barrier islands stretch along about 15 percent of the world’s coastlines. They are separated from the mainland by a shallow body of water. Some barrier islands spread out for more than 100 miles. In Texas, some of the largest barrier islands include Galveston Island, Mustang Island, and Padre Island.
Barrier islands are fragile(脆弱的) areas that contain an interdependent community of land, plants, and animals. All three need each other to exist. If one is harmed in some way, then the other two can suffer. For example, barrier islands are in constant danger of erosion, or loss of land, from wind, waves, and people. The steady movement of ocean waves and wind moves sand along the beaches. This movement contributes to erosion, which changes the shape and size of a barrier island over time. Plants not only provide animals with food and shelter, but it also helps keep an island’s sand and soil in place. When people pick native plants, it advances the process of erosion. This can harm the environmental balance that keeps an island’s ecosystem healthy. For this reason, visitors to barrier islands are usually warned to leave plants alone and to stay on roads and public beaches so that the land, plants, and animals are not disturbed.
As their name suggests, barrier islands provide a natural barrier that helps block the mainland from very bad weather such as strong windstorms and hurricanes. This protection saves lives, homes, and money every year. Barrier islands are also a major source of income for an area’s economy. Padre Island, for example, is visited every year by hundreds of thousands of tourists who take advantage of its sandy beaches and beautiful waters that are perfect for swimming, boating, and fishing. The dollars that tourists spend on the island help financially support the region and state.
1．Paragraph 3 is mostly about _____________.
A．what barrier islands are like B．how barrier islands form
C．how barrier islands can exist D．why barrier islands are important
2．Which of the following can do harm to barrier islands?
A．Keeping plants wherever they are. B．Going wherever visitors like.
C．Fishing on public beaches. D．Driving about on roads.
3．We can tell from the article that the author ___________.
A．lives on Padre Island and loves it
B．cares about the ecosystem on barrier islands
C．wishes less and less travelers would visit barrier islands
D．is concerned about the beautiful waters around the islands
4．Barrier islands are important because they ___________.
A．help prevent bad weather damaging mainland
B．bring in much more money than mainland
C．can protect rare plants and animals
D．provide more shelters for people
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
As the US wakes up to China’s rising status (地位) as an economic and strategic competitor, US parents are urging their children to learn Chinese, reports Julian Borger.
The US is being swept by a rush to learn Mandarin (普通话) -- from wealthy New York mothers hiring Chinese nannies (保姆) for their small children to a defence department education project in Oregon.
The forces driving Mandarin’s momentum (势头) are parental ambition for children facing a future in which China is almost certain to be a major player, and the government is worried about that America may get left behind in that new world.
The bottleneck is the supply of teachers. Mandarin instructors are difficult to import and difficult to train. There are visa problems in bringing over teachers from China but the biggest barrier is cultural. Teaching in Asia is generally done by rote and the change to western, interactive styles of instruction can be a large leap（跳越）.
On the other hand, it requires enormous firmness for westerners to learn a language like Chinese, with its thousands of written characters. According to the Asia Society in New York, all of America’s teacher-training institutions turn out only a couple of dozen homegrown Mandarin teachers.
One way to ease the shortage is to find native Mandarin speakers and use fast-track methods to train them. However, the majority of Chinese-Americans grew up speaking Cantonese, the dialect（方言）spoken in Hong Kong, where their parents came from. Many are themselves signing on as Mandarin students at the private language schools springing up on the west coast.
Title : in the USA
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling. I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own two feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching (紧握) at one another’s hands for reassurance.
They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up huddled (聚在一起) round listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon (蚕茧) into a larger cocoon.
It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. And many of today’s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.
But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates. Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come — with the people who respect you for who you are. That is the only kind of popularity that really counts.
In this passage, the author wants to tell _______.
A. readers to try to be popular with people around
B. teenagers to try to pursue their real selves
C. parents to try to control and guide their children
D. people to try to understand and respect each other
The author disapproves of rebelling teenagers _______.
A. growing away from their parents B. turning to their friends for help
C. walking a new way on their own D. following the popularity trend
The phrase “a larger cocoon” at the end of the second paragraph refers to _______.
A. the distractive and variable society B. the popularity wave in the society
C. the parental care and love D. the dazzling music world
What does the author think of advertisements?
A. Convincing. B. Instructive. C. Influential. D. Authoritative.
According to the author, what might happen when a teenager stands up against the popularity wave and follows his/her own path?
A. He/She gains valuable popularity. B. He/She loses good friends.
C. He/She faces all kinds of criticism. D. He/She falls behind the time.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2014届河南郑州第四十七中学高三第一次月考英语卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling. I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own two feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching (紧握) at one another’s hands for reassurance.
They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up huddled (聚在一起) round listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon (蚕茧) into a larger cocoon.
It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. And many of today’s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.
But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates. Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come – with the people who respect you for who you are. That is the only kind of popularity that really counts.
1.In this passage, the author wants to tell _______.
A. teenagers to try to pursue their real selves
B. readers to try to be popular with people around
C. parents to try to control and guide their children
D. people to try to understand and respect each other
2.The author disapproves of rebelling teenagers _______.
A. growing away from their parents
B. following the popularity trend
C. walking a new way on their own
D. turning to their friends for help
3.The phrase “larger cocoon” at the end of the second paragraph refers to _______.
A. the distractive and variable society
B. the dazzling music world
C. the parental care and love
D. the popularity wave in the society
4.What does the author think of advertisements?
A. Convincing. B. Instructive. C. Influential. D. Authoritative.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010-2011学年湖南省高三第二次月考英语卷 题型：阅读理解
As the US wakes up to China’s rising status (地位) as an economic and strategic competitor, US parents are urging their children to learn Chinese, reports Julian Borger.
The US is being swept by a rush to learn Mandarin (普通话) -- from wealthy New York mothers hiring Chinese nannies (保姆) for their small children to a defence department education project in Oregon.
The forces driving Mandarin’s momentum (势头) are parental ambition for children facing a future in which China is almost certain to be a major player, and the government is worried about that America may get left behind in that new world.
The bottleneck is the supply of teachers. Mandarin instructors are difficult to import and difficult to train. There are visa problems in bringing over teachers from China but the biggest barrier is cultural. Teaching in Asia is generally done by rote and the change to western, interactive styles of instruction can be a large leap（跳越）.
On the other hand, it requires enormous firmness for westerners to learn a language like Chinese, with its thousands of written characters. According to the Asia Society in New York, all of America’s teacher-training institutions turn out only a couple of dozen homegrown Mandarin teachers.
One way to ease the shortage is to find native Mandarin speakers and use fast-track methods to train them. However, the majority of Chinese-Americans grew up speaking Cantonese, the dialect（方言）spoken in Hong Kong, where their parents came from. Many are themselves signing on as Mandarin students at the private language schools springing up on the west coast.
Title : in the USA
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011-2012年江苏省高三上学期期中考试英语试卷 题型：其他题
Nowadays, studying abroad gains popularity in China. Many rich parents would rather send their children abroad to receive education than let them be educated in China.
As every coin has two sides, studying abroad is not an exception. There are advantages for people to attend school abroad. In the first place, he can use the foreign language in his daily life so that his ability in the second language may be greatly improved, as it is obvious that there is no better chance to improve second-language than living in the country where it is spoken. While studying in a foreign country, he will most likely meet many others from overseas and it is possible to make friends from all over the world. This is not only exciting on the social level, but could lead to important overseas contacts in his career as well. He can get familiar with the latest knowledge in science and make use of the first-rate facilities (设备) available. In this way, there is every chance that he is able to widen his horizon (眼界) and broaden his mind.
Of course, attending schools abroad may bring about a series of problems. The most serious problem is language barrier (障碍). Most of the students who go abroad don’t have enough skills in the language spoken there. As a result, on arriving there, they will find it difficult to understand what the teachers say. Besides, for lack of knowledge of the customs of the local people, they may constantly run into trouble in dealing with various situations.
Therefore, given an opportunity to attend a school abroad, one must consider both sides of the factors carefully before making up his mind.
|
Title: Studying Abroad |
|
|
Phenomenon |
Sending children abroad to receive education is (1) __________ with many rich parents. |
|
Advantages |
● Children have the (2) ________ chance to improve the second language because they can use it (3) ___________. ● They can make friends with other students from (4)____________. ● They can (5)__________ of the latest knowledge in science and have access to the best facilities. |
|
(6)____________ |
● Language barrier is the number one problem. Because students are not (7)___________ at the language spoken there, they will have difficulty in (8)____________ what the teachers say. ● It is not easy for them to deal with cross-culture communication (9)________ to lack of knowledge of the customs of the locals. |
|
Conclusion |
Both sides of the factors should be (10)______________ carefully before one makes a decision. |
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