【题目】Swimming at the beach or in a backyard pool are well-known Australian summer activities. But while it is usually a fun time of year, there is a serious side to summer that you might not know about.

1There are lots of trees and dry grass in remote areas that can easily catch fire. Even throwing a burning cigarette out of a car window can cause a lot of damage. 2

In February, there were more than 80 different bushfires burning at the same time in New South Wales, a southeastern state of Australia. The Guardian newspaper reported that 42 homes were burned to the ground because of these fires. 3They are huge farms. Many Australian properties(房产)are larger than 1,000 square kilometers, while the biggest is more than 20,000 square kilometers—even larger than Beijing.

Every household prepares for bushfire season and protects their property. But sometimes the fires are too big and people have to move to safety.

4 It was so hot in February that thousands of bats died from the heat. People can get sick if they stay outside for too long or don’t drink enough water. The heat can also cause power problems for homes and businesses.

5But it is worth remembering that the heat can cause lots of problems, too.

A. The Australian summer is enjoyable.

B. The hot weather also causes other problems.

C. These homes are not like Chinese ones.

D. Thanks to climate change, this year’s situation is even worse.

E. That is why summer is also known as ‘bushfire season” in Australia.

F. The dry season lasts about six months, usually between April and October.

G. The extreme heat, which can go above 40°C in some cities, is very dangerous.

【题目】In June 2014, Huffington Post and Mail Online reported that three-year-old Victoria Wilcher, who suffered facial scarring, was kicked out of a KFC because she was a frightening customer. Later, KFC announced that no evidence had been found to support the story. This phenomenon is largely a product of the increasing pressure in newsrooms that care more about traffic figures.

Brooke Binkowski, an editor, says that she has seen a shift towards less responsibility in newsrooms. “Clickbait is king, so newsrooms will uncritically print something unreal. Not all newsrooms are like this, but a lot of them are.”

Asked what the driving factor was, a journalist said, “You’ve a strict editor and you’ve to meet your targets. And some young journalists are inexperienced and will not do those checks. So much news reported online happens online. There is no need to get out and knock on someone’s door. You just sit at your desk and do it.”

Another journalist says, “More clicks equal more money. At my former employer in particular, the pressure was due to the limited resources. That made the environment quite horrible to work in.”

In a Feb. 2015 report for Digital Journalism, Craig Silverman wrote, “Today the bar for what is worth giving attention to seems to be much lower. Within minutes or hours, a badly sourced report can be changed into a story that is repeated by dozens of news websites, resulting in tens of thousands of shares. The rumor becomes true for readers simply by virtue of its ubiquity.

And, despite the direction that some newsrooms seem to be heading in, a critical eye is becoming more, not less important, according to the New York Times’ public editor, Margaret Sullivan. “Reporters and editors have to be more careful than ever before. It’s extremely important to question and to prove before publication.” Yet those working in newsrooms talk of doubtful stories being tolerated. In the words of some senior editors, “a click is a click, regardless of the advantage of a story”. And, “if the story does turn out to be false, it’s simply a chance for another bite at the cherry.”

1According to Brooke Binkowski, newsrooms produce false news because _________.

A. clicks matter a lot B. resources are limited

C. budgets are tight D. journalists lack experience

2What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 probably mean?

A. Lies can’t sell without an atom of truth.

B. Rumors are like a flame blown by the wind.

C. You can hear rumors, but you can’t know them.

D. A lie, repeated often enough, will end up as truth.

3What’s Margaret Sullivan’s attitude towards false news online?

A. Negative. B. Supportive.

C. Skeptical. D. Neutral.

4What is the best title of the passage?

A. Spread of false stories. B. Causes of online false news.

C. Duties of journalists. D. A craze to get clicks.

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