Eddie McKay, a once-forgotten pilot, is a subject of great interest to a group of history students in Canada.
It all started when Graham Broad, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, found McKay’s name in a footnote in a book about university history. McKay was included in a list of university alumni （校友） who had served during the First World War, but his name was unfamiliar to Broad, a specialist in military history. Out of curiosity, Broad spent hours at the local archives （档案馆） in a fruitless search for information on McKay. Tired and discouraged, he finally gave up. On his way out, Broad’s glance happened to fall on an exhibiting case showing some old newspapers. His eye was drawn to an old picture of a young man in a rugby uniform. As he read the words beside the picture, he experienced a thrilling realization. “After looking for him all day, there he was, staring up at me out of the exhibiting case,” said Broad. Excited by the find, Broad asked his students to continue his search. They combed old newspapers and other materials for clues. Gradually, a picture came into view.
Captain Alfred Edwin McKay joined the British Royal Flying Corps in 1916. He downed ten enemy planes, outlived his entire squadron （中队） as a WWI flyer, spent some time as a flying instructor in England, then returned to the front, where he was eventually shot down over Belgium and killed in December 1917. But there’s more to his story. “For a brief time in 1916 he was probably the most famous pilot in the world,” says Broad. “He was credited with downing Oswald Boelcke, the most famous German pilot at the time.” Yet, in a letter home, McKay refused to take credit, saying that Boelcke had actually crashed into another German plane.
McKay’s war records were destroyed during a World War II air bombing on London — an explanation for why he was all but forgotten.
But now, thanks to the efforts of Broad and his students, a marker in McKay’s memory was placed on the university grounds in November 2007. “I found my eyes filling with tears as I read the word ‘deceased’ （阵亡） next to his name,” said Corey Everrett, a student who found a picture of Mckay in his uniform. “This was such a simple example of the fact that he had been a student just like us, but instead of finishing his time at Western, he chose to fight and die for his country.”What made Professor Broad continue his search for more information on McKay?
| A．A uniform of McKay. | B．A footnote about McKay. |
| C．A book on McKay. | D．A picture of McKay. |
What did the students find out about McKay?
| A．He trained pilots for some time. |
| B．He lived longer than other pilots. |
| C．He died in the Second World War. |
| D．He was downed by the pilot Boelcke. |
McKay’s flying documents were destroyed in .
| A．Belgium | B．Germany | C．Canada | D．England |
We can learn from the last paragraph that McKay .
| A．preferred fight to his study |
| B．went to war before graduation |
| C．left a picture for Corey Everrett |
| D．set an example for his fellow students |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The research into war history. |
| B．The finding of a forgotten hero. |
| C．The pilots of the two world wars. |
| D．The importance of military studies. |
“My Best Teacher Ever” Contest
Students
Tell us why, in 300 words or less, your teacher (present or past) is the best teacher ever.
Assay Topic
Who was/is your best teacher ever? What makes him or her the best?
Participation
The contest is open to all students enrolled in grades 2 through 12.
Entries
Word limit: 300
Essays will be judged on the following criteria by Readers editorial staff:
·originally, creativity—40 percent
·clarity of presentation— 40 percent
·grammar, punctuation, spelling —20 percent
All entries should be word-processed, typed, or hand-printed on 8.5-inch by 11-inch paper or submitted as an attached word or text document via email.
Each entry must include the entrant’s name, age, complete home mailing address, phone number, school name, and grade, as well as the submitting teacher’s name, school name, complete school mailing address and email address.
Contest Deadline
Entries must be postmarked on or before April 26, 2013, or mailed by EST on that date.
Submission
Email your entry with attached essay and entry information (entrant’s name, age, complete home mailing address, phone number, school name, and grade, submitting teacher’s name, email address, school name, and complete school mailing address) to web-contest @ readers.com or mail your entry with attached entry form to this address:
Readers Publishing My Best Teacher Ever Contest
Attn: Anne Flounders 44 South Broadway, 18th Floor White Plains, NY10601
Prizes
One winner will be chosen in each of two categories: elementary (grades 2-6) and secondary (grades 7-12). Winning students will win a $ 50 gift card and may have their essays published on readers.com. Teachers of winning students will win one free classroom subscription to the Readers magazine of their choice. Winning essays will be posted up on signing of a release by students and their agent or guardian. Winning essays will be announced on May 7, 2013, Teacher Appreciation Day, on readers.com, and winners will be notified directly.Essays will be judged on the following criteria EXCEPT _________.
| A．punctuation | B．handwriting |
| C．presentation | D．creativity |
If you become a winner, you _________.
| A．will be awarded $ 150 in cash |
| B．will be informed of your success online |
| C．may have your essay published online |
| D．can have the Readers magazine for free |
According to the text, your essay _________.
| A．should have a total of 300 words at least |
| B．can’t have any mistakes in grammar |
| C．will be judged by some best teachers |
| D．must be mailed on or before April 26, 2013 |
You may never think a documentary film could have aroused so much public enthusiasm in Chinese history. Nowadays everybody is talking about a new 7-part documentary called A Bite of China which was recently broadcast late at night on CCTV I. The documentary describes various gourmet items across the vast Chinese culinary (烹饪) landscape.
According to Taobao, China’s biggest online retail website, just five days after the series began to air, nearly 6 million people went to the site in search of various local specialties, particularly those mentioned in the documentary. More than 7.2 million deals were concluded. A ham producer from Yunnan Province saw his sales grow 17-fold in five days.
However, one can’t help but believe that the documentary’s popularity is probably linked to the endless stream of terrible food security issues that have emerged in recent years. In one well-received article, a netizen wrote, “I wonder how many felt so empty-hearted and sighed after watching the film. Blue-vitriol watered chive, formaldehyde(甲醛) sprayed cabbage, Sudan Red colored salty eggs, restaurants using gutter oil. The list is long…”
A varied and ancient food culture that is famous world-wide and which should have made the Chinese proud ends like this: one can only sigh. Food is the most vital thing in people’s lives. Yet China’s food industry is a typical description of “bad money driving out the good”.The market is huge while the cost of faking and cheating is so low for immoral businessmen; and the punishment is too light. Take the milk industry as an example. Although Sanlu, the company that sold the melamine-adulterated milk powder, was punished, thousands of other dairies didn’t work hard to improve the quality. In order to allow national brands to survive, Chinese authorities are happy to loosen their regulations.
As the documentary shows, people are attracted not to gourmet items like matsutake, a species of rare mushroom grown naturally in remote forests, but to common Chinese dishes like barley, lotus root or tofu. They are what meet our basic needs. This explains why people are so excited about A Bite of China---it is a reminder that there is still a world out there where food is excellent and people have dignity.The underlined word “gourmet items” probably means_______.
| A． delicious food | B．latest technology |
| C． beautiful clothes | D．great inventions |
The second paragraph mainly talks about______.
| A．the content of the documentary |
| B．the producer of the documentary |
| C．The popularity of the documentary |
| D．the history of Chinese gourmet |
We can infer from what a netizen wrote in one well –received article that _____.
| A．the price of food is too high for many common people |
| B．the documentary was made by a world-famous Chinese director |
| C．there is a huge contrast between the ancient food culture and the reality |
| D．none of the television viewers have a knowledge of the Chinese food culture |
According to the passage, China’s food industry is full of faking and cheating because_____.
| A．there are still so many poor people at the present time |
| B．the punishment for unscrupulous businessmen isn’t serious enough |
| C．the Chinese government encourages it to do so |
| D．the food technology is not so advanced as in developed countries |
On Sept 18, they arrived before polling stations even opened, dressed in school uniforms, with book bags over their shoulders—and, for the first time in British history, ballot (选票) cards in hands.
More than 109,000 Scottish teenagers aged 16 to 17 took part in the Scottish independence referendum (公民投票), in which Scotland eventually decided not to become independent.
The age group only made up a small part of the 4.29 million total voters, but they have “demonstrated how the youngest voters can be some of the most enthusiastic in a mature democracy”, commented The Associated Press. Casting their ballots, they were “proud and passionate” to help their nation decide whether to break away from the UK after 307 years in union.
“You feel like you’ve got a say, because it is going to be you. You are going to decide what it is like when you’re older,” 16-year-old Erin Cheshire in Glasgow, who voted “yes”, told The Wall Street Journal.
At age 16, Scottish residents are allowed to join the military, get married, and work. Eighteen is the legal drinking age, as well as the UK’s voting age. But in 2013, Scottish law was changed to allow 16- and 17-year-olds in Scotland to vote in the referendum. The government pushed for the change because “younger voters are more likely to vote with their hearts, not their heads—and embrace fundamental change by voting for the pro-independence Yes Scotland campaign”, NBC News said.
But when the decision was handed down, some worried that high school students might not be as informed as adult voters. However, many experts said that assumption was wrong.
Professor Jan Eichhorn of the University of Edinburgh insisted that Scottish teenagers were as likely to read newspaper articles and campaign materials as their parents. They would simply get these resources through social media.
“There’s no evidence to suggest that they’re less capable than adults of voting, from a research point of view,” Eichhorn told NPR.
Scotland’s move to let younger teenagers vote in the referendum has led to a discussion about whether the voting age ought to be lowered to 16, both in the UK and the US.
“By 16, most people have about as stable an ideology (思想意识) as they are going to get,” Professor Jason Brennan of Georgetown University wrote for CNN, arguing that the US should also think about allowing younger US citizens to vote. The Scottish independence referendum was held on Sept. 18 ______.
| A．to encourage youngsters to be concerned with politics |
| B．to lower the minimum voting age to 16 for the referendum |
| C．to elect who would be the new leader of Scotland |
| D．to decide whether Scotland would become independent from the UK |
According to the passage, we can learn ______.
| A．It is possible for the USA to lower the voting age to 16 in the future. |
| B．Scotland gained its independence from the UK eventually. |
| C．All the people in Scotland thought highly of the government’s decision to lower the voting age to 16. |
| D．Scottish teenagers aged 16 are allowed to join the military, get married, work and drink alcohol now. |
What doe the underlined word “embrace” (in para.5) probably mean?
| A．Approve of | B．Object to |
| C．Know about | D．Admit to |
What is Jan Eichhorn’s opinion of the Scottish teenagers aged 16 to 17?
| A．They are too enthusiastic to make informed decisions. |
| B．They make no difference to the voting result. |
| C．They are as informed and capable as adults of voting. |
| D．They are unwilling to be involved in the decision of the country’s future. |
Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.
People use their mouths for many things. They eat, talk, shout and sing. They smile and they kiss. In the English language, there are many expressions using the word mouth. But some of them are not so nice.
For example, if you say bad things about a person, the person might protest and say “Do not bad mouth me.”
Sometimes, people say something to a friend or a family member that they later regret because it hurts that person’s feelings. Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell. The speaker might say: “I really put my foot in my mouth this time.” If this should happen, the speaker might feel down in the mouth. In other words, he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.
Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something. The other person might protest: “I did not say that. Do not put words in my mouth.”
Information is often spread through word of mouth. This is general communication between people, like friends talking to each other. “How did you hear about that new movie?” someone might ask. “Oh, by word of mouth.” A more official way of getting information is through a company or government mouthpiece. This is an official spokesperson. Government-run media could also be called a mouthpiece.
Sometimes when one person is speaking, he says the same thing that his friend was going to say. When this happens, the friend might say: “You took the words right out of my mouth!” Sometimes a person has a bad or unpleasant experience with another person. He might say that experience “left a bad taste in my mouth.” Or the person might have had a very frightening experience, like being chased by an angry dog. He might say: “I had my heart in my mouth.”
Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family. There is an expression for this, too. You might say such a person, “was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth. This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life, like food.
Parents might sometimes withhold sweet food from a child as a form of punishment for saying bad things. For example, if a child says things she should not say to her parents, she might be described as a mouthy child. The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off.
But enough of all this talk. I have been running my mouth long enough.Which of the following can best describe his or her feeling if a speaker feels down in the mouth?
| A．Delighted | B．Regretful |
| C．Disappointed | D．Respectful |
When your car was close to knocking into a truck, you might say “_______”
| A．I really put my foot in my mouth this time. |
| B．I had my heart in my mouth. |
| C．I live from hand to mouth. |
| D．I get to know it by word of mouth. |
According to the passage, which behavior is surely Not welcome?
a. bad mouthing somebody
b. mouthing off about something
c. putting words in somebody’s mouth
d. taking the words right out of somebody’s mouth
| A．abc | B．abd | C．bcd | D．acd |
What do “I” probably (in the last Para.) do?
| A．A host | B．A journalist |
| C．A director | D．A listener |
If you are sitting down listening to what I’m going to say, stand up. Move your legs. Touch your toes, if you can. Do anything but sit.
If you cut down on the time you spend sitting, you might live longer. New research shows that sitting less than three hours a day might extend your life by two years.
Just the opposite, says Peter Katzmarzyk. He is a scientist at the University of Louisiana in the southern United States. He says that sitting is ubiquitous in our lives. "We sit while we're eating; we sit in the car; we sit while we watch TV. Many of us sit for many hours at work. " But, he adds, that does not make sitting good for us. The human body is designed to move. But modern lifestyles and office jobs rarely give us the chance to move around.
Exercise is important. So is not sitting.
"We can't throw away physical activity. It's extremely important. We have 60 years of research showing us that. Even if you exercise for 30 minutes a day, what goes on in the other 23-and-a-half hours a day is also very important."
Mr. Katzmarzyk and his co-workers are part of a new generation of researchers studying how sitting all day affects length of life. This is a relatively new area of study—studies that have assessed the relationship between sitting and mortality(死亡) or television viewing and mortality.
Making uses of the few studies available to them, they found that cutting television time to less than two hours a day could add one-point four years to life.
New desk designs are helping
Change is already coming to some offices, especially in the design of desks. A "standing desk" lets people stand while they work. Another new design is called the "treadmill desk." A treadmill is an exercise machine that lets you walk in one place. That's one of the strategies that many companies are using now. Some companies may equip their employees with a "standing desk" or a "treadmill desk". Other companies may not buy one for everybody, but they'll have a bank of these desks where people can go for an hour a day and answer their emails or talk on the phone. Even some U.S. schools are beginning to experiment with such desks to keep children moving.
Mr. Katzmarzyk says studying this problem has inspired his team to make a few changes in their own lives. "As a university professor, you know, it is a very sedentary occupation. We're chained to a desk in terms of writing papers and doing research. We really try to limit the amount of time we spend doing that."
Suggestions for sitting less
If you work in office job or have a sedentary job, Mr. Katzmarzyk and his team suggest a few simple changes:
get up from your desk as often as you can take walks at lunch time walk to your colleagues’ offices and talk directly instead of emailing them All these activities may help you live longer.What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Take exercise, keep fit. |
| B．Change more, achieve greater. |
| C．Talk directly, improve relationship. |
| D．Sit less, live longer. |
The word “ubiquitous ” (in Para. 3) means “_______”.
| A．common | B．normal |
| C．individual | D．specific |
Mr Katzmarzyk holds the view that _______.
| A．the study doesn’t benefit him at all |
| B．it’s unnecessary to limit television time |
| C．emailing colleagues is better than a face-to-face talk |
| D．those taking exercises 30 minutes a day still can’t sit long |
The passage is most likely to be _______.
| A．a medical research | B．a book review |
| C．a health report | D．a sports feature |