C
Susan Sontag(1933—2004) was one of the most noticeable figures in the world of literature. For more than 40 years she made it morally necessary to know everything—to read every book worth reading, to see every movie worth seeing. When she was still in her early 30s,publishing essays in such important magazines as Partisan Review,she appeared as the symbol of American culture life,trying hard to follow every new development in literature,film and art. With great effort and serious judgment,Sontag walked at the latest edges of world culture.
Seriousness was one of Sontag’s lifelong watchwords(格言),but at a time when the barriers between the well-educated and the poor-educated were obvious, she argued for a true openness to the pleasure of pop culture. In “Notes Camp”, the 1964 essay that first made her name,she explained what was then a little—known set of difficult understandings,through which she could not have been more famous.“Notes on Camp”,she wrote,represents “a victory of ‘form’ over ‘content’, ‘beauty’ over ‘morals’ ”.
By conviction(信念)she was a sensualist(感觉论者),but by nature she was a moralist(伦理学者),and in the works she published in the 1970s and 1980s,it was the latter side of her that came forward. In “Illness as Metaphor”—published in 1978,after she suffered cancer—she argued against the idea that cancer was somehow a special problem of repressed personalities(被压抑的性格),a concept that effectively blamed the victim for the disease. In fact,re-examining old positions was her lifelong habit.
In America,her story of a 19th century Polish actress who set up a perfect society in California,won the National Book Award in 2000. But it was as a tireless,all-purpose cultural view that she made her lasting fame.
“Sometimes,” she once said,“I feel that,in the end,all I am really defending…is the idea of seriousness,of true seriousness.”And in the end,she made us take it seriously too.
64.The underlined sentence in paragraph l means Sontag ____________.
A.was a symbol of American cultural life
B.developed world literature,film and art
C.published many essays about world culture
D.kept pace with the newest development of world culture
65.She first won her name through____________.
A.her story of a Polish actress
B.her book Illness as Metaphor
C.publishing essays in magazines like Partisan Review
D.her explanation of a set of difficult understandings
66.Susan Sontag’s lasting fame was made upon____________.
A.a tireless,all-purpose cultural view
B.her lifelong watchword: seriousness
C.publishing books on morals
D.enjoying books worth reading and movies worth seeing
67.From the works Susan published in the 1970s and 1980s,we can learn that _____.
A.she was more a moralist than a sensualist
B.she was more a sensualist than a moralist
C.she believed repressed personalities mainly led to illness
D.she would like to re-examine old positions
While small may be beautiful, tall is just plain uncomfortable it seems, particularly when it comes to staying in hotels and eating in restaurants.
The Tall Persons Club Great Britain (TPCGB), which was formed six months ago to campaign for the needs of the tall, has turned its attention to hotels and restaurants. Beds that are too small, shower heads that are too low, and restaurant tables with hardly any leg-room all make life difficult for those of above average height, it says.
But it is not just the extra-tall whose needs are not being met. The average height of the population has been increasing yet the standard size of beds, doorways, and chairs has remained unchanged.
“The bedding industry says a bed should be six inches larger than the person using it, so even a king-size bed at 6′6″ (6 feet and 6 inches) is falling short for 25% of men, while the standard 6′3″ bed caters for less than half of the male population.” Said TPCGB president Phil Heinricy, “seven-foot beds would work fine.”
Similarly, restaurant tables can cause no end of problems. Small tables, which mean the long-legged have to sit a foot or so away from them, are enough to make tall customers go elsewhere.
Some have already taken note, however. At Queens Moat Houses′ Caledoman Hotel in Edinburgh, 6′6″beds are now put in as standard after requests for longer beds from taller visitors, particularly Americans.What is the purpose of the TPCGB campaign?
A.To provide better services. |
B.To rebuild hotels and restaurants. |
C.To draw public attention to the needs of the tall. |
D.To attract more people to become its members. |
Which of the following might be a bed of proper length according to Phil Heinricy?
A.7′2″. | B.7′ | C.6′6″ | D.6′3″ |
What may happen to restaurants with small tables?
A.They may lose some customers. |
B.They may start businesses elsewhere. |
C.They have to find easy chairs to match the tables. |
D.They have to provide enough space for the long-legged. |
What change has already been made in a hotel in Edinburgh?
A.Tall people pay more for larger beds. |
B.6′6″beds have taken the place of 6′3″beds. |
C.Special rooms are kept for Americans. |
D.Guest rooms are standardized. |
One afternoon last week, I saw three tearful children from my son's school being comforted by teachers. That morning, my 11-year-old had stomach pains, retching(干呕)into a bowl. Talking to other mothers later, I heard about other children with stomachache or difficult sleeping the night before.
What caused so much pain? Sports day. Sports day might be necessary at a highly-competitive independent school, but not at a village primary school. For the children who can fly like the wind, sports day cause no problem. For those who are overweight or just not good at sport, it is nightmare(噩梦). Even for those who enjoy running but fall halfway down the track in front of the entire school and their parents, it can prove a disease.
Why do we put our children through this annual suffering? Some may say competition is character building; or it's taking part, not winning, that's important; or that's a tradition of school life. I just felt great pity for those children in tears or in pain.
Team games at the end of sports day produced some close races, wild enthusiasm, lots of shouting - and were fun to watch. More importantly, the children who were not so fast or quick at passing the ball were hidden a little from everyone's eyes. Some of them also had the thrill of being on the winning side.
I wish that sports day could be abandoned and replaced with some other less competitive event. Perhaps an afternoon of team games, with a few races for those who want them, would be less stressful for the children and a lot more fun to watch.
1. |
What can we learn about the author's son from Paragraph 1?
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2. |
Sports day is still an annul event in this school probably because
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3. |
What does the author think about team games?
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4. |
What is the author's attitude towards sports day?
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Why do Americans struggle with watching their weight, while the French, who consume rich food, continue to stay thin? Now a research by Cornell University suggests how life style and decisions about eating may affect weight. Researchers concluded that the French tend to stop eating when they feel full. However, Americans tend to stop when their plate is empty or their favorite TV show is over.
According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, a health expert, the French see eating as an important part of their life style. They enjoy food and therefore spend a fairly long time at the table, while Americans see eating as something to be squeezed between the other daily activities. Mercola believes Americans lose the ability to sense when they are actually full. So they keep eating long after the French would have stopped. In addition, he points out that Americans drive to huge supermarkets to buy canned and frozen foods for the week. The French, instead, tend to shop daily, walking to small shops and farmers’ markets where they have a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs as well as high-quality meats for each meal.
After a visit to the United States, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don’t Get Fat, decided to write about the importance of knowing when to stop rather than suggesting how to avoid food. Today she continues to stay slim and rarely goes to the gym.
In spite of all these differences, evidence shows that recent life style changes may be affecting French eating habits. Today the rate of obesity — or extreme overweight — among adults is only 6%. However, as American fast food gains acceptance and the young reject older traditions, the obesity rate among French children has reached 17% — and is growing.In what way are the French different from Americans according to Dr. Joseph Mercola?
A.They go shopping at supermarkets more frequently. |
B.They squeeze eating between the other daily activities. |
C.They regard eating as a key part of their lifestyles. |
D.They usually eat too much canned and frozen food. |
This text is mainly the relationship between _________.
A.Americans and the French |
B.life style and obesity |
C.children and adults |
D.fast food and overweight |
The text is mainly developed __________.
A.by contrast | B.by space | C.by process | D.by classification |
Where does this text probably come from?
A.A TV interview | B.A food advertisement |
C.A health report | D.A book review |
When I told my father that I was moving to Des Moines, Iowa, he told me about the only time he had been there. It was in the 1930s, when he was an editor if the literary magazine of Southern Methodist University(SMU)in Dallas, Texas. He also worked as a professor at SMU, and there was a girl student in his class who suffered from a serious back disease. She couldn;t afford the operation because her family was poor.
Her mother ran a boardinghouse in Galveston, a seaside town near Houston, Texas. She was cleaning out the attic(阁楼)one day when she came across an old dusty manuscript(手稿). On its top page were the words, “By O. Henry”. It was a nice story, and she sent it to her daughter at SMU, who showed it to my father. My father had never read the story before, but it sounded like O. Henry, and he knew that O. Henry had once lived in Houston. So it was possible that the famous author had gone to the beach and stayed in the Gainestown boardinghouse, and had written the story there and left the manuscript behind by accident. My father visited an O. Henry expert at Columbia University in New York, who authenticated the story as O. Henry’s.
My father then set out to sell it. Eventfully, he foud himself in Des Moines, meeting with Gardner Cowles, a top editor at the Des Moines Register. Cowles loves the story and bought it on the spot. My father took the money to the girl. It was just enough for her to have the operation she so desperately needed.
My father never told me what the O. Henry story was about. But i doubt that it could have been better than his own story.Who found the O. Henry’s manuscript?
A.The girl’s mother. | B.The author’s father. |
C.The girl. | D.The author. |
Which of the following might explain the fact that the manuscript was found in the attic?
A.O. Henry once worked in Houston. |
B.O. Henry once stayed in Galveston. |
C.O. Henry once moved to Des Moines. |
D.O. Henry once taught at SMU. |
The underlined word “authenticated” in Paragraph 2 probably means __________.
A.named | B.treated | C.proved | D.described |
According to the text, why did the author’s father go to Des Moines?
A.To sell the O. Henry story. | B.To meet the author himself. |
C.To talk with the O. Henry expert. | D.To give money to the girl. |
Our warming planet is expected to face serious water crisis(危机)in the coming decades — which means each nation’s natural resource will be more important than ever.![]() ![]() |
According to the statistics, what is the world average of freshwater resource per person?
A.244,973 cubic kilometers |
B.241 cubic kilometers |
C.3,642 cubic kilometers |
D.6,122 cubic kilometers |
Which country or region has the most freshwater resource per year?
A.Guyana | B.Brazil | C.Iceland | D.China |
Which country or region appears twice on the top 5 lists?
A.Bhutan | B.Seychelles | C.Canada | D.Suriname |