The naive fellow has never met a thief and firmly believes that he lives in a world without thieves. And, the female thief fights against other thieves only to protect this guy's "daydream". Sound strange? Then go to the cinema to see what happens in "A World Without Thieves" (Tianxia Wuzei). It's the latest offering from Chinese director Feng Xiaogang. The film will hit mainland cinemas on December 9, 2004.
Adapted from the book of the same name, it tells the story of a couple, both of them skillful thieves, who find their consciences on a thief-filled train.
Wang Bo (Andy Lau, or Liu Dehua) is a master pickpocket from Hong Kong. Wang Li (Rene Liu, or Liu Ruoying) is a "talented" cheat from Taiwan. They're partners in crime and passion, and cheat their way across China, until one day they run into Shagen (Wang Baoqiang) at a railway station.
An orphan since birth, Shagen spends more time with wolves than with men. He believes in the basic goodness of human nature and is convinced that he lives in a world without thieves. Having saved up 60,000 yuan after five years of hard work, he decides to go back to his hometown, build a house and get married.
However, the train Shagen boards is full of thieves. Besides Wang Bo and Wang Li, there is a gang of highwaymen under the control of Uncle Bill (Ge You). While Bill's men are trying to get Shagen's savings, Wang Li takes it on herself to be his protector.
Feng Xiaogang has become a supplier of New Year's movies in China. For four consecutive years, he has caused a nationwide media excitement at the end of each year. That started with 1998's "The Dream Factory" (Jiafang Yifang) and ran to last year's "Cell phone" (Shouji).
With "A World without Thieves", Feng tries his hand at something beyond his standard humor. For the first time, he employs a lot of special effects.
"I do like comedy, but I also want to know where my limits lie," said Feng, "The film is an experiment. It has special skills, love between thieves, as well as the rediscovery of conscience."
Feng says the film is more like a fairy tale: It's two thieves trying to protect someone's "daydream". "You see, a fairy tale may expose more about life and human nature than another story. You don't change the world with a film, but you make people see and feel innocence, and that's my power. "
46. The underlined word “naive” means _________.
A. lovely B. interesting C. innocent D. smart
47. Which of the following films is not directed by Feng Xiaogang?
A. Red River Valley B. A World Without Thieves
C. The Dream Factory D. Cellphone
48. It can be inferred from the text that _________.
A. Feng Xiaogang has directed more than three films since 1998.
B. This film was first on show on December 9, 2004.
C. Wang Bo and Wang Li are in the charge of Uncle Bill.
D. Feng Xiaogang likes fairy tales.
49. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
A. Introduction of Feng Xiaogang
B. Introduction of Liu Dehua
C. Brief introduction of Feng’s film — A World Without Thieves
D. Feng’s opinion about his film — A World Without Thieves
50. What’s Feng’s opinion about this film?
A. All the World is peaceful and perfect objects.
B. The power of the film is to make people see and feel innocence.
C. It’s only a fairy tale.
D. Let people rediscover their consciences by this film.
根据对话内容，从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
----- Can you help me?
----- Sure, what’s the problem?
----- ____81___.
----- Well, how about San Francisco? We went there last year and had a great time.
-----82
-----Well, there is Golden Gate Bridge of course, and Golden Gate Park. It’s a really big park. You can go for long walks or take a rest in the Japanese Tea Garden. It’s beautiful there.
-----83
----- There is also a place called Fisherman’s Wharf. That’s really popular with tourists. There are lots of shops, cafes and restaurants. And from there you can go on a boat trip to Alcatraz. You know, it’s a small but very beautiful island.
-----84
----- No, you can’t stay on the island; there aren’t any hotels. You can only go for the day. I think I’ve still got a book about San Francisco. I can lend it to you.
-----85
What can you do there?
Oh, great! What a great place to stay in!
What an idea! What is the best time to go there?
I can’t decide where to go for the holiday-----any ideas?
Thanks a lot. San Francisco, here I come!
Hmm, that sounds good.
How can I go there?
根据对话内容，从对话后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
－Mary, do you want to see the pictures of my holiday in Italy?
－61
－Ah, it was great! The food was great! The wine was great! But the traffic was terrible!
－62
－Those Italians are crazy drivers! I don’t want to think about it!
— 63
－Yes, so here’s a picture of the Tower of Pisa.
－How nice!
－It was raining that day, but it was still wonderful. We climbed to the top!
－64
－That’s a photo of the Arno River. That’s the “Ponte Vecchio”, the old bridge.
－65
－It was very interesting. There were beautiful old buildings in the city, and lots of wonderful museums.
－That’s nice.
| A．And what’s this? |
| B．Why was it so bad? |
| C．Yes, it was wonderful. |
| D． What was Florence like? |
E.Let’s return to the good parts.
F.Sure, what was your holiday like?
G. Well, did you like your hotel there?
President Bush may talk about a plan to Mars, but Bruce Jones thinks there is still a healthy thirst for exploration into underwater worlds on our own planet. After growing up with a grandfather in the marine construction①business, Jones quickly got a feel for the water. He started diving at age 9 and, by the 1980s, began offering advice for those interested in the submarine②business. By 1993, he was running his own company, U.S. Submarines, which designs and builds submarines for others.
Jones has $40 million spent in building a hotel where the most expensive rooms will be 50 feet under the sea off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. Unlike the Jules Undersea Lodge — the only undersea hotel now, just off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. — guests at the Poseidon won’t need to put on a wet suit to their rooms. They also won’t need to worry about changing pressure levels since the rooms will be kept at above-surface pressure. Instead, they can move easily to their $1,500-a-night underwater rooms by escalator③.
“I think there are a large number of people who would be interested,” said Jones, “including anyone who is looking for a different experience.”
Each room will feature strong walls that look out onto coral④gardens. There will be controls in each room that guests can use to change the lighting of the underwater worlds outside their windows and to provide food to fish swimming just outside. It sounds exciting— but will it happen? It’s hard to say.
“By now I envisioned⑤we’d have whole underwater cities,” Cooper said. “It’s about time some of these visions became reality.”
Notes:
① marine construction海洋建筑
② submarine adj. 海下的
③ escalator n.自动梯
④ coral n.珊瑚
⑤ envision v.展望
1. The first paragraph takes President Bush for example in order to ______.
A. praise President Bush’s plan to Mars
B. humorously introduce the main subject to readers
C. support President Bush’s plan to Mars
D. show Bruce Jones is against President Bush’s plan
2. According to the text, who had a great effect on Bruce Jones?
A. His father. B. His friends. C. His grandfather D. His grandmother
3. According to Bruce Jones’s undersea hotel, we know that ______.
A. fish outside can be seen through the hotel’s walls
B. the hotel has been built and came into use
C. it will be easy to swim into the underwater rooms
D. visitors will have to wear wet suits against water
4. According to Cooper’s words, his attitudes towards the underwater hotels are ______.
A. disappointed B. critical C. objective D. hopeful
A new study shows one of the largest glaciers①in Greenland is becoming smaller and speeding to the sea faster than scientists expected. If it continues, Greenland itself could become much smaller during this century and global seas could rise as much as 3 feet.
The rates②of change that we’re noticing are much higher than expected. If these rates continue, it is not unlikely that Greenland could shrink③by several tens of percent this century. However, it’s not known how quickly this coastal response of the Greenland ice sheet melting will have an effect on the vast inland ice.
Greenland is the world’s largest island, covering an area more than three times the size of Texas. Some 81 percent of it is covered by ice, and there are many glaciers. Glaciers are like slow-moving rivers of ice. Where a glacier meets the sea, its weight keeps it firmly resting on the bottom. A glacier’s front is the point where the water is deep enough that the glacier floats.
Since the 1970s, the front of Helheim stayed in the same place. Then it began melting rapidly, moving back 4.5 miles from 2001 through this past summer. It has also grown thinner, from top to bottom, by more than 130 feet since 2001. And over these past four years, its trip to the sea has sped up from about 70 feet per day to nearly 110.
The melting is driven by a warmer climate. Temperatures in Greenland have risen more than five degrees Fahrenheit in the last decade. Since most of Greenland’s ice is on land, seas will rise as the ice melts. If all Greenland’s ice sheet melted, oceans would be 15-20 feet higher. Nobody expects that to happen anytime soon.
Notes:
① glacier n.冰川
② rate n.比率
③ shrink v.缩小
1. Which of the following about the glaciers is TRUE?
A. Glaciers only lie in Greenland. B. Water in glaciers is more than sea water.
C. Glaciers sometimes float on the water. D. Glaciers can increase the water level of lakes.
2. According to the text, we know that Greenland ______.
A. belongs to Canada B. is the largest island in North America
C. is all covered with glaciers D. is sinking under the sea level
3. Which of the following may be the result of the disappearing of Greenland glaciers?
A. the climate of the world will be warmer.
B. the glaciers in other area will be bigger.
C. It will be easy for explorers to visit the island.
D. Some coastal cities may be under the sea.
The United States is one of the few countries in the world that has an official day on which fathers are honored by their children. On the third Sunday in June, fathers all across the United States are given presents, treated to dinner or otherwise made to feel special.
However, the idea for creating a day for children to honor their fathers began in Spokane, Washington. A woman by the name of Sonora Smart Dodd thought of the idea for Father’s Day while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon① in 1909. Having been raised by her father, Henry Jackson Smart, after her mother died, Sonora wanted her father to know how special he was to her. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices② and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a selfless and loving man. Sonora’s father was born in June, so she chose to hold the first Father’s Day celebration in Spikane, Washington on the 19th of June, 1910.
In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge declared the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day. Roses are the Father’s Day flowers: red to be worn for a living father and white if the father has died.
When children can’t visit their fathers or take them out to dinner, they send a greeting card. Traditionally, fathers prefer greeting cards that are not too sentimental③. Most greeting cards are too special so fathers laugh when they open them. Some give heartfelt thanks for being there whenever the child needed Dad.
Notes:
① sermon v.布道
② sacrifices n.牺牲
③ sentimental adj.感伤的
1. The United States is special in Father’s Day because ______.
A. many people celebrate the day B. only America celebrates the day
C. America makes it an official day D. all men are honored in America
2. At first, Father’s Day was fixed on June 19th because ______.
A. Sonora honored her father on her father’s birthday
B. Sonora’s birthday was June 19
C. it was decided by the president at that time
D. her mother died on June 19
3. How many years has passed before Father’s Day became an official day since the father’s day was celebrated?
A. 4 B. 10 C. 14 D. 24
4. According to the passage, on Father’s Day, ______.
A. people will wear the same flowers to honor their fathers
B. only daughters wear red flowers to honor their fathers
C. children must go home to honor their fathers
D. fathers are often honored in different ways
5. According to the passage, we can infer that Henry Jackson Smart ______.
A. was very kind to anyone
B. did a lot for his daughter
C. was the first father honored in 1924
D. always help others by giving money