中小学最新教育资料

But this past year, life gave me a heavy hit: My father, one of my best friends and my tiny house construction partner, died in a traffic accident.

This is where my enthusiasm conics from now: the desire to finish my house for my father. Because of this decision, I now have some life experiences that some adults don’t have. I can relate not only to people who want to build a house, but also to people who have lost a parent. And to all of them, I can say that giving up is not a choice.

Still, without the help of my friends and family. I would probably stop my project. My friend Luke came to help the week after my father died; he knew I needed to get my walls up. The guidance from fellow tiny house builders and their families has been helpful. Putting windows in is no easy. And installing(安装) electricity is not something you do in your dreams. Ten hours of stabbing (戳) your fingers with metal string and getting shocked a couple times is not ideal.

Sometimes when people get a hard knock, they stay down. I didn’t. I didn’t only want to show that anyone can build their own house; I also wanted to show that when I was handed lemons. I not only made lemonade. I made a delicious lemon cake. 24. One reason why the author decided to build a house was to . A. save some money

B. learn some life skills

D. improve her living

C. realize her father’s dream conditions

25. After her father’s death, the author . A. lives on her own

B. decided to give up her plan

D. has helped many

C. still looks at life positively needy families

26. When doing her construction work, the author . A. got a lot of help from other people expectations

C. had to leave things unfinished challenging

27. The underlined part “gel a hard knock” in the last paragraph probably 中小学最新教育资料

D.

found

it

less

B. decided to lower her

中小学最新教育资料 means . A. get knocked down

B. do a challenging task

D.

have

an

unpleasant

C. experience something new experience

C

Sound travels very well through water-much better, in fact, than it does through air. So it shouldn’t be surprising that many ocean animals make noise. They use sound to communicate and hunt. As biologist Brandon Southall says, “Their whole world is related to sound.”

Dolphins whistle, organizing hunts. Lovesick whales sing so loudly they can be heard hundreds of miles away. But these days they aren’t the only ones sounding off. They have more and more competition from human machines.

Every day, thousands of huge container ships sail across the world’s oceans. On top of the engine noise, the ships’ propeller (螺旋桨) make a loud noise all the time. All that can make it hard for ocean animals trying to listen out for friends, or dinner. Animals swimming nearby a ship can be deafened or even killed.

Underwater construction can also be dangerously loud. When construction machines called pile drivers were used during repairs to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, dead fish appeared.

Geologist (地质学家) pound on the seafloor too, trying to find oil wells and map Earth’s surface. The results are useful lo science, but all that hammering probably gives ocean animal a headache.

As people realize how important sound is to ocean animals, they are looking for ways to reduce human noise. Ships could get quieter just by slowing down. Engineers are also trying to find quieter propeller ships.

Now some companies are using a simple invention called a bubble curtain, which makes sound waves passing through it lose energy and gel quieter. It seems to work - when bubble curtains were fixed on the San Francisco bridge project fish deaths dropped.

We still have a lot to learn about sound in the oceans, but together we can 中小学最新教育资料

中小学最新教育资料

help keep the sea a quieter place.

28. Dolphins and whales arc mentioned to show . A. sound travels very well through water noisy in the sea

C. the ocean is filled with sound problem

29. What is happening to ocean animals these days? A. Human noise is causing danger to their safety. B. There is less food in the ocean for them. C. They are being killed in large numbers. D. They are losing their hearing.

30. During the first repair to the bridge, some fish . A. started to die

B. were attracted to it D. suffered from headaches

D. ocean noise is a big

B. they are surprisingly

C. got quiet underwater

31. Bubble curtains are used to . A. research on fishes underwater Francisco bridge

C. stop noisy machines working

D

The vast majority of people can buy pretty much anything they need. Not anything they want, necessarily, but anything they need to achieve a satisfactory degree of creature comfort: clothing, water, shoes and food.

During my childhood, a Michael Pollan book would have been the prize of my year, were I to find it waiting under my Christmas tree or open it upon my birthday. I also used to be thrilled at receiving necessary things, like simple socks or gloves, as present. Nowadays I have too many gloves. I purchase leather gloves online that appear to be a good deal or just because I like their look.

Prosperity (富足) is a good thing, right? Yes, of course. But for me, I find that the greater ease with which such a generous gift is purchased, the less significance it has when given. This is why I try harder at gifts. 中小学最新教育资料

D. reduce construction noise

B.

build

the

San

中小学最新教育资料

My first line of dealing with this problem is simply understanding the effect of a little time spent. Even writing out a thoughtful or funny card goes a lot further than a “cute top” purchased from a popular shopping website.

Need help? Go to your printer. There’s paper in there. Fold one sheet in half and draw a heart on the front. Open it up and fill the card with a poem or a few words of your own. Not only is it obvious that you took the time to select your words and write them down, but now you force the reader to stop for a short time and consider what you were trying to accomplish with them. The effort made by the two of you is the gift.

No matter how you decide to spend a little more time on your giving, the point is just quite simply that you do. You don’t have to give a person a handmade paper boat to get a reaction. But you won’t be sorry if you do. 32. What does the author think of his childhood gifts? A. They weren’t what he wanted. get.

C. They looked good.

D. They were useful.

B. They weren’t easy to

33. What does the underlined part “this problem” in paragraph 4 refer to? A. How to make a good deal. gift.

C. How little a bought gift matters. time spent on gifts is.

34. A handmade card appears to be more significant because . A. certain information is delivered B. it provides a sense of achievement. C. it takes the giver some time to finish it.

D. both the giver and the receiver are making an effort. 35. The author writes the text mainly to . A. encourage readers to make gifts B. advise readers to buy helpful gifts C. inform readers of the importance of giving 中小学最新教育资料

D. I low long the

B. How to choose a popular