the home of a watercolorist named Marian McKay. She had requested the community to turn it into a museum upon her death. On a sunny Saturday, Sally and I drove over to the museum. She asked, \you have the address? \but I'll recognize it, there was a picture in the magazine. \
\
The museum was free. We entered, excited. A group of people sitting in the hall stopped talking and stared at us.
\my nerves. What if they talked a long time about a painting you weren't that interested in? Sally had gone upstairs. The people in the hall seemed very nosy(爱窥探的), keeping their eyes on me with curiosity. What was their problem? I saw some nice sculptures in one room. Suddenly I sensed a man standing behind me. \do you think you are? \\ay is on New Braunfels Street.\place?” I asked, still confused. \it's our home.\My heart jolted(震颤). I raced to the staircase and called out, \
\I pushed her toward the front door, waving at the family, saying, \forgive us, you have a really nice place.\she covered her mouth, laughing. She couldn't believe how long they let us look around without saying anything.
The real McKay was splendid, but we felt nervous the whole time we were there. Van Gogh, Picasso. This time, we stayed together, in case anything else unusual happened.
Thirty years later, a woman approached me in a public place. \ever enter a residence, long ago, thinking it was the McKay Museum?\
\
\I never realized what a beautiful place I lived in. I never felt lucky before. You thought it was a museum. My feelings about my home changed after that. I've always
- 5 -
wanted to thank you.\
24. How did the author feel about being stared at by the people in the hall? A. Concerned. B. Frightened. C. Puzzled. D. Delighted. 25. Why did the author refuse the help from the man in the house? A. She disliked people who were nosy.
B. She felt nervous when talking to strangers. C. She knew more about art than the man. D. She mistook him for a tour guide.
26. Why did the author describe the real McKay museum in just a few words? A. The real museum lacked enough artwork to interest her. B. She was too upset to spend much time at the real museum. C. The McKay was disappointing compared with the house. D. The event happening in the house was more significant. 27. What could we learn from the last paragraph? A. People should have good taste to enjoy life. B. People should spend more time with their family. C. People tend to be blind to the beauty around them. D. People tend to educate teenagers at a museum.
C
Ireland's Achill Island has always been a popular European tourist destination. However, since April in 2017, the small island of just 2,700 residents has gained worldwide fame thanks to the magical return of a beach that was washed away over three decades ago.
The chain of events began in 1984 when residents of Dooagh, one of the settlements on the island, awoke to a surprising sight: their beautiful sandy beach had been washed away by strong Atlantic storms. There were only rocks and rock pools left. For about 34 years, only small amounts of sand returned to the once unspoiled shores. The area's tourism industry slowly declined, and the handful of beachside hotels, pubs, and restaurants gradually closed as well.
Then around Easter in 2017, something magical happened—an unusual ten-day tide blanketed the barren 300-meter long rock beach with hundreds of tons of soft golden
- 6 -
sand. Scientists suspect that the sand had been gathering offshore for months and was transported to the beach by the high winds and powerful waves.
The locals are delighted to have their beach back, especially as it is attracting thousands of visitors wishing to witness the power of nature with their own eyes. However, Sean Molloy, manager at Achill Tourism, cautions against going into the cold waters just yet, saying, “Because of the sand coming in, we don't know how safe the beach is now because currents (水流) could be changed and it'll take a little bit of time. ”He instead recommends visitors enjoy the soft sand and leave the swimming to the dolphins that frequent the area.
Interestingly, this is not the first time Dooagh Beach has pulled a disappearing and reappearing act. It disappeared in the 1890s, for over 30 years, before returning in 1927. However, the locals are optimistic that this time around, the beautiful sand is here to stay.
28. What has brought Achill Island worldwide attention recently?
A．An unusual storm. B．The return of its beach.
C．The decrease in the number of residents. D．The building of a new tourist destination. 29. What happened to Dooagh in the past three decades?
A．Storms attacked frequently. B．Restaurants developed slowly. C．Tourism went down gradually. D．Rock pools disappeared completely.
30. What does the underlined word “barren” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A．bare B．soft. C．noisy.
D．golden.
31. What should tourists avoid according to Sean Molloy?
A．Spoiling the shores. B．Getting into the rock pools. C．Playing with dolphins. D．Swimming near the beach.
D
If you followed the 2016 Olympic Games, you may have noticed that several athletes, including US swimmer Michael Phelps, had circular bruises on their bodies. These bruises were the result of “cupping (拔火罐) therapy”，a traditional Chinese
- 7 -
medicinal practice that has been around for more than 2,000 years.
Many athletes say that they have benefited from the therapy. Phelps used the therapy in the fall of 2014 and has used it about twice a week since, reported ABC
News. Another US swimmer, Dana Vollmer, also believes that “it really helps with
blood flow”．
However, some have said that the supposed health effects result from people's feeling that the treatment works, rather than any physical effect of the treatment. To figure out cupping therapy has any physical effect, last year researchers from Germany carried out a test in which a false treatment was provided.
In the study, the same type of cups was used in the real treatment and the false treatment. But in the false treatment, the cups had a hole at the top so that they couldn't create the proper suction (吸力)．
The tested patients, who suffered from a disorder that caused a lot of pain, were told that they would receive either traditional cupping or “soft cupping”. But they were not informed that what called “soft cupping” was a false treatment.
It turned out that most patients correctly guessed which kind of cupping they had received. In both groups, patients also experienced about the same reductions in pain. “ The results suggest the effects of cupping therapy might come from factors that are not necessarily part of the treatment itself，” the researchers told the Live Science website.
The question of whether cupping therapy works still needs to be answered. “But because the treatment is relatively safe and it could be helpful for some people, the therapy can be used as part of a comprehensive treatment program involving other exercises, nutritional choices and lifestyle changing,” Dr Brent Bauer, director of the US Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program at Mayo Clinic, told Live Science.
32. Why is Michael Phelps mentioned in the passage? A．To give athletes a new way to swim faster. B．To introduce the topic on cupping therapy. C．To provide athletes with a new way of treatment. D．To show swimmers suffer from disorders.
33. The purpose of the test by researchers from Germany was to ________. A．promote the health effects of cupping therapy
- 8 -
相关推荐：
loading