There was a time when New York City buildings were almost all the same height.

3.Today you can see buildings of different heights that seem to touch the sky. They are called skyscrapers(摩天大楼). They shape the famous New York City skyline.

 It started about 90 years ago. It began like a race. This wasn't a race down the street or around a track(跑道). It was a race for the sky. Who was racing? Buildings were.Their builders were actually racing to build the world's tallest skyscraper.

 The race started slowly.

 First came the Woolworth Building, in 1913. It rose 792 feet(英尺) on the southern side of the city. Then the race heated up.In1930, two skyscrapers were nearing completion. The Bank of Manhattan Building was finished first. It rose up to 927 feet into the sky. Builders were then putting a round roof（屋顶）on the top of the Chrysler Building. It rose up t0 925 feet. The Bank of Manhattan, two feet taller, seemed to be the winner.

 A few weeks later, New Yorkers saw a strange sight（景象）.  The day that the Chrysler Building was to be completed, workers raised a shiny metal, spire（尖顶）through the top of the building, adding 121 feet to the building's height! At l,048 feet,the Chrysler Building was now the world's tallest.

 But the race was not over.  A year later, in 1931, the Empire State Building became the new winner.4.At l,250 feet, it was the world's tallest building.

 In 1973, even that record was broken. Builders finished the World Trade Center. At 1,368 feet high, it rose above all other buildings in New York City.

 Time goes on. As technology improves, taller buildings are being built. The race is still on.

    The English language is different from any other language. Yet English words do not stay the same. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} We need new words for inventions and new ideas. Different words come into use, or older words are used in a new way.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Tomato was borrowed from Mexico. The word coffee came from Turkey, and tea came from China. Now new space and science words are being borrowed from other countries, too.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}  Strawberry, popcorn, and grandfather are words made up of two parts.

Sometimes new words are shorter forms of older words. The word photo was made from photograph by cutting off the end of the longer word. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Smog was made by swing only the first two letters from the words smoke and fog.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Our sandwich was named after a man named Sandwich. Scotch Tape, Band-aid, and Jell were names made up by the companies that first made the products.

根据短文内容，从方框中选出五个句子填入文中空缺处，使短文内容通顺完整。

    Meeting new people and making friends can be overwhelming, but with a little effort and willingness to step outside of your comfort zone, you can easily make friends. Here are some good ways to make friends.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}This is a great way to find other people who have common interests. If you enjoy something, try searching for a place where you can meet people who share that interest. If you play instruments or sing try joining a band or choir. 1fyou are good at sports, join a sports team.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}You can go to school, join a club, or go to church, but you still won't make friends if you don't actually talk to people. Any time you talk to someone, you have a chance at making a lasting friend You can talk to anybody：the clerk at tile video store, tile person sitting next to you on public transit, or the person in front of you in the lunch line. Don't be too picky.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}That will give you a better opportunity to talk and get to know each other a little bit better. Invite them to join you for lunch or coffee sometimes and give them your email address or phone number. This gives the person the opportunity to contact(联系) you；they may or may not give you their information in return, but that's fine.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}Many people think that interesting people are easy to make friends. Far more important than this, however, is the ability to show that you're interested in others Listen carefully to what people say, remember important details about them(their names, their likes and dislikes), ask questions about their interests, and just take the time to learn more about them.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Many people lose contact with their friends because they're either too busy, or just don't value their friends enough. When you lose connection with a friend, tile friendship may fizzle out. And when you do try to contact them again, it can be hard to gain the friendship again.

A.     B.

C.     D.

E.     F.

{#blank#}1{#/blank#}⑴My cousin Helen likes tennis. She thinks it is very interesting. She often 'plays it with her friends after school.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#}⑵I have five basketballs. I like basketball very much and I often play it with my classmates every Friday afternoon.

{#blank#}3{#/blank#}⑶Cindy likes ping pong. She thinks it is easy for her. She has three ping pong bats and lots of ping-pong balls.

{#blank#}4{#/blank#}⑷Frank likes sports. He likes playing soccer and he has two soccer balls.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}⑸Amy likes sports, but she doesn't play them. She only watches the ball games on TV.

    Connor Bloom had an amazing two weeks at Stanford University this summer. Eyery part of the experience was amazing. The particle accelerator(粒子加运器), the chance to meet like minded kids from across the world? You guessed it. . .

    Bloom, 14, an eighth-grader at Whitefish Middle School in Montana, US, participated in a special camp at Stanford University. The camp holds many different classes for students who want to challenge(挑战)themselves.

    When Bloom looked online and saw that Stanford was to hold the "Gified Youth" program, he signed up(报名). "I like physics and math. 1like to study new things and find out everything about them, "said Bloom. " That's what made me want to sign up. "

    He handed in his test scores from fifth grade on, wrote an article and got recommendation(推荐)letters from teachers. Bloom stood out among thousands of students and got the invitation.

    Bloom had a great time with 86 students from all over the world. On the first day, they learned college-level math. Over the next four days they got to work in laboratories(实验室). They even touched a dead body to learn about how the human body works.

    In the second week, they saw the school's particle accelerator, "I never saw such a machine before, "said Bloom. " But it was just the mental workout(智力测验)1 was hoping for. "

    Bloom did more than just study for two weeks. He made friends with students from China, India and Japan. He worked together with other students in class to learn better. He spent his free time with kids who were also music fans.

    "Once we got to know each other, we helped each other out, "he said. " We learned a lot from each other. that's for sure. "

Should We Keep Animals In Zoos?

    Zoos are popular places in communities around the world. They're places where people can learn about wild animals by seeing them up close. Some people  though, believe zoos aren't good for animals. They think wild animals should only live in the wild.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Wild animals have been kept in cages for thousands years. Over time, people began speaking out about the practice of keeping animals in zoos. The rise of animal rights movement and groups have led many to question whether or not zoos are right.

   {#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    Zoos provide care for animals that they wouldn't receive in the wild. Animals are fed a healthy diet in zoos. Also, zoos have veterinarians who provide medical care for hurt or sick animals that would often be left to die in the wild. In some cases, zoos help animals to live longer.

   {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Though many animals live longer in zoos, some mammals live longer in the wild. Elephants live near twice as long in the wild as they do in zoos. Scientists believe the causes for this include elephants in zoos becoming stressed and depressed when they are forced to live in small spaces.

   {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    It may seem like a good thing that zoos set animals back into the wild, but there are often problems with this practice. Zoo animals don't learn hunting skills since they are fed by zookeepers. They also have no idea to stay away from predators, cars or hunters in the wild.

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    How much do zoos actually teach people about animals? A 2014 study showed that only 1000 out of 3000 children who visited a zoo learned something new. Groups such as PETA believe the biggest thing children learnt at zoos is that it's fine to keep animals in cages instead of in the wild.