Ever thought you’d get to experience the smell of ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra’s hair, or the scent(气味) of the sun? Visitors to the Reg Vardy Gallery will soon be able to do just that.
The gallery, at Sunderland University, England, is holding a new exhibition “If There Ever Was”. It focuses on scent rather than sight.
The innovative(创新的) idea is the brainchild of curator(馆长) Robert Blackson. His inspiration came from reading the book Fast Food Nation. The book discussed the use of artificial chemicals to flavor things such as milkshakes, making them smell and taste like strawberries, when they’re not actually made from them.
A smell can often conjure up(召唤) memories such as school dinners or a childhood holiday by the sea, but the smells on display, will allow visitors to experience smells their noses won’t have been able to pick out before.
“There’s a whole variety of diffe
rent smells, including some extinct flowers,” explains Blackson. “Some have been gone for hundreds of years.”
One extraordinary fragrance(香气) is the aftermath(灾难的后果) of the first atomic bomb, dropped on Japan on August 6,1945.
There is also the smell of Clepatra’s hair, based on incense(熏香) that was popular among ancient Egyptians.
The Soviet Mir space station, which burnt up in the atmosphere in 2001, smells of charred(烧焦的) material (the space station caught fire).
Among the stranger smells is the “surface of the sun”.
“It is hard to sum up. It is an atmospheric smell, like walking into a room when the sun has been pouring i
n” says Blackson. “It gives a freshness, a sun kissed feel with a bit of metal. If you can say something smells hot, this is it.”
A team of 11, including perfume designers, have been working on recreating the smells for the exhibition. James Wong, a botanist（植物学家）at Botanic Gardens Conservation International, UK, helped in the recreation of the smells of four extinct flowering plants.
He did this by closely linking the extinct flowers with the smells of existing ones. With the help of historical reports of how the extinct flowers smelled, he was able to remix the aromas(芳香).
The exhibition runs until June 6.Fourteen extinct and impossible smells are on display.What might be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Reg Vardy Gallery | B．Egyptian queen Cleopatra’s hair |
| C．A visit to a new exhibition | D．The scents of ancient Egypt |
Visitors can enjoy all of the following scents at the Reg Vardy Gallery EXCEPT .
| A．the scent of ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra’s hair |
| B．the smells of charred material of the Soviet Mir space station |
| C．the scent of having a childhood vacation by the sea |
| D．the smell of the aftermath of the first atomic bomb dropped on Japan |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Visitors go to Reg Vardy Gallery to enjoy beautiful sights. |
B．James Wong managed to remix the aromas by referring to some historical reports . |
| C．The exhibition will last until July 6. |
| D．The scents visitors will smell are found in the tomb (坟墓) of the ancient Egyptian queen Cleopatra. |
In which session are you likely to read the passage in a newspaper?
| A．Science | B．Education | C．Entertainment | D．Economy |
With the average temperature for January standing at －50 ℃，it is no wonder the Russian village of Oymyakon is the coldest permanently inhabited settlement in the world.Known as the“Pole of Cold”，the coldest ever temperature recorded in Oymyakon is －71.2 ℃.This is the lowest recorded temperature for any permanently inhabited location on Earth and the lowest temperature recorded in the northern hemisphere(北半球)．
Ironically，Oymyakon actually means“nonfreezing water”due to a nearby hot spring.Most homes in Oymyakon still burn coal and wood for heat and enjoy few modern conveniences.
Nothing grows there so people eat reindeer(驯鹿)meat and horsemeat.A single shop provides the town's bare necessities and the locals work as reindeerbreeders，hunters and icefishermen.
There are few modern conveniences in the village—with many buildings still having outdoor toilets—and most people still burn coal and wood for heat.When coal deliveries are irregular，the power station starts burning wood.If the power ceases，the town shuts down in about five hours，and the pipes freeze and crack.
Daily problems that come with living in Oymyakon include pen ink freezing，glasses freezing to people's faces and batteries losing power.Locals are said to leave their cars running all day for fear of not being able to restart them.Even if there was coverage for mobile phone reception，the phones themselves would not work in such conditions.
Another problem caused by the frozen temperatures is burying dead bodies，which can take anything up to three days.The earth must first have thawed(融解)sufficiently in order to dig it，so a bonfire is lit for a couple of hours.Hot coals are then pushed to the side and a hole couple of inches deep is dug.The process is repeated for several days until the hole is deep enough to bury the coffin.
Travel companies offer tourists the opportunity to visit the village and sample life in the freezing conditions.From the passage we can infer that people in Oymyakon ________.
| A．prefer meat to any other kind of food |
| B．seldom have fresh vegetables and fruits |
| C．can buy anything in the shop |
| D．might row a boat to catch fish |
Which of the following is the first step when burying a dead body?
| A．The coffin must be put in place. |
| B．A bonfire has to be lit first. |
| C．Hot coals have to be pushed to the side. |
| D．A hole couple of inches deep is dug. |
Mobile phones would not work in Oymyakon because ________.
| A．the batteries are of poor quality |
| B．there was no coverage for phone reception |
| C．batteries can't be charged in such conditions |
| D．the extreme coldness makes the batteries lose power |
Why do the locals have their cars running all day?
| A．They are afraid they can't get the car started. |
| B．They want to keep warm in the car. |
| C．They have abundant oil resources. |
| D．They have little awareness of saving. |
When times get tough，we all look for ways to cut back.When we're hungry，we eat at home instead of going out.We take buses instead of taxis.And we wear our old designer jeans just a few months longer.With college expenses at alltime highs，high school students are eager to do anything to cut the cost of a university education.
One costcutting proposal is to allow college students to get a bachelor's degree in three years instead of four.Educational institutions have been actively exploring ways to make the learning process more efficient.But there's a question：Would the quality of undergraduate(本科生)education suffer？ Few US universities have formally approved a “threeyear degree”model.
I doubt that mainstream North American colleges will carry out a threeyear curriculum(课程)any time soon.For one thing，most universities already allow highly qualified students to graduate early by testing out of certain classes and obtaining a number of college credits(学分)．In addition，at famous universities，the committee who determine which courses are required and which courses are electives are unlikely to suddenly “throw out”one quarter of the required credits.Professors will resist “diluting(稀释)”the quality of the education they offer.
In my opinion，a quality fouryear education is always superior to a quality threeyear education.A college education requires sufficient time for a student to become skilled in their major and do coursework in fields outside their major.It is not a good idea to water down education，any more than it's not a good idea to water down medicine.If we want to help students find their way through university，we should help them understand early on what knowledge and skills they need to have upon graduation.We should allow students to test out of as many courses as possible.We should give them a chance to earn money as interns(实习生)in meaningful parttime jobs that relate to their university studies，such as the fiveyear coop program at Northeastern University.The first paragraph serves as a(n) ________.
| A．explanation | B．definition |
| C．introduction | D．comment |
In most US universities，________.
| A．college students are offered the coop program |
| B．electives' credits make up one quarter of the required credits |
| C．all students are required to finish fouryear education before graduation |
| D．some excellent students can graduate ahead of time |
We can infer that ________.
| A．the author is a college professor |
| B．the author thinks the cost of a university education is too high for people to afford |
| C．the author considers the university education quality very important |
| D．the author pays special attention to the allround development of college students |
Which of the following can be the best title?
| A．It's time to shorten the learning process |
| B．Best learning takes place over time |
| C．University education should be watered down |
| D．College education calls for reform |
When 19－year－old Sophia Giorgi said she was thinking of volunteering to help the Make－A－Wish Foundation (基金会)，nobody understood what she was talking about.But Sophia knew just how important Make－A－Wish could be because this special organization had helped to make a dream come true for one of her best friends .We were interested in finding out more，so we went along to meet Sophia and listen to what she had to say.
Sophia told us that Make－A －Wish is a worldwide organization that started in the United States in 1980.“It's a charity(慈善机构)that helps children who have got very serious illnesses.Make－A－Wish helps children feel happy even though they are sick, by making their wishes and dreams come true ，” Sophia explained .
We asked Sophia how Make－A－Wish had first started.She said it had all begun with a very sick young boy called Chris ，who had been dreaming for a long time of becoming a policeman .Sophia said lots of people had wanted to find a way to make Chris's dream come true—so, with everybody's help, Chris, only seven years old at the time，had been a “policeman” for a day.” When people saw how delighted Chris was when his dream came true, they decided to try and help other sick children too，and that was the beginning of Make－A－Wish，” explained Sophia.
Sophia also told us the Foundation tries to give children and their families a special, happy time.A Make－A－Wish volunteer visits the families and asks the children what they would wish for if they could have anything in the world.Sophia said the volunteers were important because they were the ones who helped to make the wishes come true. They do this either by providing things that are necessary，or by raising money or helping out in whatever way they can.Sophia found out about Make－A－Wish because her best friend had________.
| A．benefited from it | B．volunteered to help it |
| C．dreamed about it | D．told the author about it |
According to Sophia，Make－A－Wish________.
| A．is an international charity |
| B．was understood by nobody at first |
| C．raises money for very poor families |
| D．started by drawing the interest of the public |
What is said about Chris in Paragraph 3?
| A．He has been a policeman since he was seven. |
| B．He gave people the idea of starting Make－A－Wish |
| C．He wanted people to help make his dream come true. |
| D．He was the first child Make－A－Wish helped after it had been set up. |
Which of the following is true about Make－A－Wish volunteers?
| A．They are important for making wishes come true. |
| B．They try to help children get over their illnesses. |
| C．They visit sick children to make them feel special. |
| D．They provide what is necessary to make Make－A－Wish popular. |
The longest solar eclipse (日食) of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean on 22th July, drawing people outside to watch the sight in the sky.
Day turned into night. Temperature turned cooler in cities and villages filled with fans of astronomy. The total eclipse could be seen starting in India on Wednesday morning and moving eastward across China and parts of the Pacific. Millions cast their eyes towards the heavens to catch an unusual view of the sun’s colorful ring. Cloud in some areas prevented people from fully enjoying the sight. Still, many were frightened.
The total eclipse occurs about twice a year as the moon passes between the earth and the sun on the same plane as earth’s circle.
The local astronomy society gave a flash on how an eclipse happens. Wednesday’s event lasted up to more than six minutes in some places. In India, thousands bathed in the Ganges River in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi to clean their souls. It was sunny sky in Hong Kong for the eclipse, where students, parents and the elderly flooded in a primary school to watch.
In Shanghai, children climbed up ladders to look through two large telescopes on the school roof to catch sight of the moon moving across the sun. Others looked through a pair of glasses covered with solar filter (过滤器) paper, where they could take pictures of the moon moving over the sun.
In some cultures, many old stories are about eclipse. In India, a eclipse was considered unfavorable. In Chinese tradition, there is a story about a heavenly dog eating the sun. As the story goes, people would make noise to frighten off the dog and save the sun.What can we learn about the longest solar eclipse of the century?
| A．Not everyone in the world could see the longest eclipse. |
| B．Any of the Asians was excited to watch the eclipse. |
| C．All people saw the longest solar eclipse on Wednesday. |
| D．The Chinese all caught sight of the total eclipse at the same time. |
What does the text imply about the total solar eclipse?
| A．All people watched the solar eclipse for at least six minutes. |
| B．In ancient China, people couldn’t understand this phenomenon. |
| C．Your eyes must be hurt without filter equipment while watching. |
| D．You can watch the total solar eclipse directly only with your eyes. |
Which of the following statements about eclipse is TURE according to the text？
| A．Most Chinese people used to think eclipses would bring about misfortunes. |
| B．Chinese fathers were pleased to watch solar eclipses. |
| C．Indians think bad fortune will come about along with eclipses. |
| D．The Chinese people are too frightened to go outside when eclipses occur. |
Where can we see the eclipse start?
| A．In Shanghai. | B．In India. | C．In Hong Kong. | D．In the Pacific Ocean. |
With the crazy smog going on in China, businessmen are now ready to grope for your wallet. “Smog economy” is stimulating a shopping spree on certain products against the terrible weather. Now let’s see what we have on the list to help us through the crisis.
1. Masks
Well, I would say you had better stay indoors to save your lives. PM 2.5 just surged up to 750 in Beijing recently. 3M just sold 220,000 masks of a kind. No.1 best-selling products!
2. Air purifiers
This kind of products is rarely seen in Chinese households in the past. They have become a necessity now. I do like these little gadgets, but they are just too expensive.
3. Oxygen inhalers
I didn’t realize oxygen inhalers also get a cut in the smog economy. As a matter of fact, your oxygen uptake has nothing to with relieving (减轻) the impact of smog. It might even lead to oxygen poisoning when you inhale too much oxygen. So don’t get greedy.
4. Salt lamps
Compared to oxygen inhalers, salt lamps are even worse. Some stores are selling the products at several hundred yuan, saying that they can release negative ions(离子), reduce radiation levels and purify the air. The lamps mainly contain sodium chloride. The boiling point of sodium is about 800 degrees centigrade and that of candle is 500. So how on earth can negative ions be released at only 500 degrees?
5. Plants that absorb smog
Yeah, right. Plants Vs Smog. It is scientifically justified (证明) that some plants do absorb pollutants from the air. Money plants and calla lilies are among the best-sellers in the market. Even if they don’t work, it’s good to have some plants in the house anyway.According to the passage, smog _______.
| A．give some economic chances to businessmen |
| B．is very bad to economy |
| C．makes some crisis come out |
| D．have nothing to do with the economy |
What is the meaning of the underlined word?
| A．Giving up shopping. | B．Feeling down in shopping. |
| C．Having a lot to buy. | D．Buying something enthusiastically. |
Salt lamps are useless, because_______.
| A．it may cause poisoning |
| B．it actually can’t release the negative ions |
| C．it reduces radiation level and makes the air dirty |
| D．the prize is very high |
How many ways does the author think are useful?
| A．2. | B．3. | C．4. | D．5. |