英语 热门试卷

After finishing my teaching for a school year, I thought that I should go back to Montreal,Quebec, my hometown for a visit. My main goal was to relax in preparation for the challenges of my retirement in the coming year.（56题）

Through my stay in Montreal, I met lots of Chinese who are struggling to succeed and then lead a better life in Canada.（59题）

Some travelled thousands of miles to get knowledge. When I spoke with some of them about the major barrier they had to face after they arrived in Canada, they all talked about the two official languages of Canada.（57题） But I was impressed by their ability to express their ideas while switching between English and French.

Almost all of those people said they often felt homesick. They miss their families and friends. Though Montreal has lots of Chinese restaurants, they long for a home-cooked meal.

I met some tourists who were trying to realize their childhood dreams of experiencing the life in a developed country. When I asked them if Montreal had lived up to their expectations, they hesitated. They said that reality never agrees with fantasies. However, they were glad to have the opportunity to visit Montreal and didn’t regret taking the trip.

Not all the Chinese people I met were happy. I once met a young lady who met with a gentleman through the Internet. However, to her disappointment, he disappeared after he promised to marry her in Montreal.

I was served by another Chinese person who could not handle the challenges of studying in an English environment and ended up working in a restaurant with minimum pay.

Exploring different parts of the world, without any doubt, is an enriching experience. However,one should be realistic when it comes to leaving his hometown to set up a new life in a foreign country. One should take the time to examine the advantages and the shortcomings of the venture before they decide to chase an uncertain dream of achieving success or leading a better life.（58题）

【文章导读】此文是一篇记叙文，说了作者在家的所见所闻，在加拿大的中国人生活困难有许多挫折，引出自己的观点：在想要实现自己目标之前要给自己定位，不然只会徒增困难。

Scientists have found what they think is probably the oldest fossil on Earth, a remnant of life from 3.7 billion years ago when Earth’s skies were orange and its oceans green.

In a newly melted part of Greenland, Australian scientists found the leftover structure from a community of microbes（微生物）that lived on an ancient seafloor. Based on their analysis of the fossils, the researchers determined that they are 220 million years older than those discovered in Western Australia, which were 3.48 billion years old.（66题）

The discovery shows life may have formed quicker and more easily than once thought, about half a billion years after Earth formed. And that may also give hope for life forming elsewhere, such as Mars, said study co-author Martin VanKranendonk of the University of New South Wales and director of the Australian Center for Astrobiology. “It gives us an idea how our planet evolved and how life gained a foothold,” VanKranendonk said.（63题）

Scientists had thought it would take at least half a billion years for life to form after the molten Earth started to cool a bit, but this shows it could have happened quicker, he said. That’s because the newly found fossil is far too complex to have developed soon after the planet’s first life forms, he said.（64题）

In an outcrop of rocks that used to be covered with ice and snow which melted after an exceptionally warm spring, the Australian team found stromatolites（叠层石）, which are layered structures that are often produced by a community of microbes. The stromatolites were about 1 to 4 centimeters high.

“It is like the house left behind made by the microbes,” VanKranendonk said. “Scientists used the layers of ash from volcanoes and tiny zircon（锆石） with uranium and estimated that they date back to 3.7 billion years ago.”

The dating seems about right, said Abigail Allwood, a NASA astrobiologist who found the previous oldest fossil, from 3.48 billion years ago, in Australia. But Allwood said she is not completely convinced that what VanKranendonk’s team found once was alive. She said the evidence wasn’t conclusive enough that it was life and not a geologic quirk（地质巧合）.（65题）“It would be nice to have more evidence, but in these rocks that’s a lot to ask,” Allwood said in an email.

【文章导读】此文是一篇说明文，介绍了化石的由来，科学家的新发现以及化石的主要种类。

Taking an Uber car may no longer be a direct driver-passenger and guilt-free experience. The ride-sharing experience is about to get awkward.

With the wide application of the Internet, Uber, a new approach to your destination instead of taking an ordinary taxi, has become more popular recently. However, benefits won’t come without its fair share of drawbacks.

Uber drivers are a part of the so-called sharing economy: They use their own vehicles, receive customer reviews via the app’s five-star rating system and make their own hours.（67题）Unlike other services, Uber claimed that drivers all over the country could clearly alert customers that tipping is not included. Those drivers that expect to be tipped can make their wishes known.But the company is holding to its official no-tip-required line, according to its website. “Once you arrive at your destination, your fare is automatically charged to your credit card on file—There’s no need to tip.” Although drivers value their independence—the freedom to push a button rather than punch a clock,（67题）lack of a clear policy, however, leaves Uber drivers in a vulnerable（脆弱的）position:If they ask a customer for a tip or put up a sign, that customer could give the driver a low star-rating, and the driver could finally be deactivated from the app.（68题）

But has the company done a good job working with customers? Some observers say that this new grey area for tipping will create awkwardness about whether they should tip or not—something most Uber customers have not had to deal with until now.（70题）Uber did not respond to customers’ comment, just leaving their rating in the air（ignoring it）.

Providing an option to tip on an app sends a clear message to customers to reach into their pockets. Nearly 30% people would be more likely to leave a tip if they were presented with a “no tip” button,（69题）according to Guinn’s 2015 survey of roughly 500 people. When people are presented with three tip choices—20%, 25% or 30%—they’re more likely to choose the middle option even if it’s more than the traditional 20%, according to a separate 2014 analysis of 13 million New York City taxi rides.

If the service is twice as expensive during a rain storm or public transport delay, the customer has the right not to tip. However, if the driver is extra helpful or avoids traffic to reach your destination in a more timely manner, you could give an extra tip, says Uber, who will leave tipping options in the hands of the consumer rather than the app.

【文章导读】此文是一篇说明文，说明了风靡的租车软件Uber的发展和使用，引出是否要给小费这一问题的思考。最后给出的结论是要根据实际情况考虑。