江苏省淮安市淮安区2019-2020学年高一下学期期中学业水平测试英语试题

My little grandson Nolan just turned four last week. He loves playing with toy cars. He even sleeps with cars in his hands. So I knew he'd be excited about the car that my husband and I bought him for his birthday.

I talked to Nolan the day I bought his present and told him that Grandmama had something he was really going to like. For the week and a half after that, it was all he could do to wait. He asked if it was big and guessed what it was over and over. And I gave him some strange suggestions. He'd say, "Grandmama, it's not that!"

The day of his party arrived and as people gathered at Nolan's house, the pile of presents got bigger and bigger. Nolan came to where I was sitting in the kitchen and said, "Grandmama, did you bring my present?" I told him I did, and we walked into the living room so I could show the wrapped box to him. It was almost as big as he was. A few minutes later, I heard a loud sound and when I looked, he was trying to drag the heavy box into the kitchen. He looked up at me and said, "Can I open it now?" I told him he'd have to wait just a little bit longer until after everyone ate.

He had such a hard time waiting, but when his mama said it was time to open presents, Nolan tore (撕) into that big box and discovered that it was worth waiting.

It's sometimes the same way in our lives. We know something great is to come. But when it doesn't arrive right away, we're just like little Nolan. And then when it still doesn't arrive, we get impatient. But just as Nolan learned, it's finally worth the wait.

It is already known that dogs can use their highly developed sense of smell to search out drugs, and disaster survivors. Now, some are being trained to find a different kind of threat — a plant species (物种) that can harm the environment.

The plant is a yellow-flowered bush called Scotch broom. It is common in areas of America's Pacific Northwest, but still fairly new to New York. And its rapid growth can also close off areas to wildlife. Officials are trying to stop the plant's growth before it becomes widespread.

A 2010 study reported high success rates of dogs using their noses to search out invasive (入侵的) species. The study found that trained dogs could smell and find two times more invasive plants than humans could watch with their eyes. Joshua Beese, a dog handler with the Trail Conference group, said, "If we have to find all these plants ourselves, searching the grass for every tiny plant, it will take much longer. And we will still miss a lot, because hundreds of small plants like Scotch broom are largely hidden by other local plants' growth."

Another organization working on the problem is Working Dogs for Conservation. It tries to train dogs to protect wildlife and wild places, including invasive species work. The group has trained dogs in several states including Montana, Iowa, Colorado and Hawaii.

Human teams had tried for years to find and remove a destructive (破坏性的) plant in one area of Montana without much success. But after two trained dogs from Working Dogs for Conservation were brought in to help, the species nearly disappeared within a few years, because they could smell plants hidden among other species. That's a game-changer. Each plant can set up to 15,000 seeds (种子) a year, and seeds can live for seven years in the soil. Dogs find plants before they flower and reproduce.

Five steps to better handwriting

Some kids love handwriting, but others hate it when it's time to put pen to paper. Maybe they are worried about their handwriting. Are you one of them? Here are five steps that really work!

Get a great grasp

Try this — hold your pencil at the top and try to write your name. Pretty hard? But when you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier. Hold it in place with your thumb(拇指), and your index and middle fingers.

Let the lines be your guide

Lined paper is your friend! Those lines can help you create letters that are of the right size and proportion (比例). Also be sure to fill up the lined space completely. Those capital letters should be from the bottom line to the top one.

Slow down

If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. If you rush, it's hard to control where you stop and start your letters.

Lower the pressure (压力)

That makes it harder to make the smooth lines. Try relaxing and don't hold the pencil too hard.

Lots of games need you to write or draw pictures. So even though it's not schoolwork, you're still using the skills you need to control your pencil better.

A. Play games

B. Ask for advice

C. You've been writing since you were a little kid.

D. So "a" should be half the height of a capital "A".

E. Some kids press down really hard when they write.

F. The best way to hold a pencil is to rest it next to the base of your thumb.

G. The good news is that just about everyone can improve their handwriting.

A student Dylan Belscher noticed a dollar on the floor as he sat at the back of his English class. When the school day 1, Belscher went back to the classroom. The 2 was still there. He could easily have 3 it without thinking twice. 4, he picked it up and brought it to his English teacher, Katie Mattison, who was a little 5 since she thought a lot of people would have just kept it. She 6 Belscher to tape it to the whiteboard of the classroom. "Students are quite clear when someone is 7 something," Mattison said.

Two days later, a senior student Henry saw the dollar on the 8. He was very curious. When class was over, Henry 9 Mattison why it was there. Mattison, who was still 10 for the owner to claim (认领) it, replied, “I don't know.” Then Henry 11 a second dollar, because he 12 his teacher wouldn't do anything stupid with the money. The two dollars let other students start asking Mattison about its purpose, to which she gave the 13 answer, "I don't know." At that point, it was exactly 14.

Even without knowing the clear 15, many students wanted to be part of it. They thought bigger donations (捐赠) might help them 16 the teacher's purpose faster. Until the amount reached $175.76, the person who lost it 17 came looking, which left Mattison to deal with it in the best way. She asked the teens whether they 18 if she donated the dollars in their names in honor of Jack who 19 money every spring for an organization set up to help the homeless. After all, it was hard to find big money donors every year. Their 20 moved Mattison to tears.

Old English is very  (differ) from the English we speak nowadays. Before the middle of the 5th century, people in Britain all spoke a language called Celtic. Then two Germanic group from the European mainland  (occupy) Britain. Old English consisted of a mixture of their language. Aside  place names such as London, very few Celtic words became part of Old English. At the end of the 9th century, the Vikings began to move to Britain and brought with them their language, also mixed with Old English. By the 10th century, Old English had become  official language of England.

An advertisement  (use) words and pictures to persuade people to buy a product or service, or to believe in an idea. There are two main  (type) of advertisements—commercial advertisements and public service advertisements (PSAs). A commercial advertisement is one which someone has paid for to advertise a product or service. PSAs are often run  free, and are meant  (educate) people about health, safety, or any other problem  affects public welfare.

1）说明消息来源；

2）工作的好处；

3）希望他去参加面试。

注意：

1）词数80左右；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Eric,

……

Yours,

Li Hua

Sally was only eight years old when she heard Mommy and Daddy talking about her little brother, Georgy. He was very sick and the doctors told them that only a very expensive operation could save his life. However, his family could not afford it. Sally heard Daddy say sadly, "Only a miracle (奇迹) can save him now."

Sally went to her bedroom and found her piggy bank. She shook all the money out on the floor and counted it carefully. Then she put all the money in her pocket and made her way to a drugstore (药店). She waited patiently for the storekeeper to give her attention, but he was busy talking to another well-dressed man. Sally cleared her throat. No good. Then she took out a coin from her pocket and threw it onto the glass counter (柜台). That did it!

"What do you want?" the storekeeper asked angrily. "Can't you see I'm talking to my brother?" "Well, I want to talk to you about my brother," Sally answered back bravely. "He's sick, and I want to buy a miracle." "I beg your pardon," said the storekeeper.

"My Daddy says only a miracle can save him now, so how much does a miracle cost?"

"We don't sell miracles here, little girl. I can't help you."

"Listen, I have the money to pay for it. Just tell me how much it costs."

Then that well-dressed man asked, "What kind of miracle does your brother need?" "I don't know," Sally answered. Tears started to rush into her eyes. "I just know he's really sick and Mommy says he needs an operation. But my family doesn't have enough money, so I have brought all my money. I love my little brother." "How much do you have?" asked the well-dressed man. "A dollar and eleven cents," Sally answered. "And that's all the money I have."

注意：

1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；

2）应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；

3）续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；

4）续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。

Paragraph 1:

"Well, I can help you," said the well-dressed man.

Paragraph 2:

It wasn't long until Georgi was home again.