EdinburghMelaTime:25th–31stAug-优题课

Food festivals around the world
Stilton Cheese Rolling
May Day is a traditional day for celebrations, but the 2,000 English villagers of Stilton must be the only people in the world who include these rolling in their annual plans. Teams of four,dressed in a variety of strange and funny clothes , roll a complete cheese along a 50-metre course. On the way, they must not kick or throw their cheese, or go into their competitors' lane. Competition is fierce and the chief prize is a complete Stilton cheese weighing about four kilos (disappointingly, but understandably the cheeses used in the race are wooden ones). All the
competitors arc served with beer or port wine, the traditional accompaniment for Stilton cheese.
Fiery Foods Festival—The Hottest Festival on Earth
Every year more than 10,000 people head for the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They come from as far away as Australia, the Caribbean and China, but they all share a common addiction—food that is not just spicy ,but hot enough to make your mouth burn, your head spin and your eyes water. Their destination is the Fiery Eood and BBQ Festival which is held over a period of three clays every March. You might like to try a chocolate-covered habanero pepper—officially the hottest pepper in the world—or any one of the thousands of products that are on show. But one thing's for sure—if you don't like the feeling of a burning tongue, this festival isn't for you!
La Tomatina—The World's Biggest Food Fight
On the last Wednesday of every August, the Spanish town of Bunol hosts Ea Tomatina—the world's largest food fight. A week-long celebration leads up to an exciting tomato battle as the highlight of the week's events. The early morning sees the arrival of large trucks with tomatoes—official fight-starters get things going by casting tomatoes at the
crowd.
The battle lasts little more than half an hour, in which time around 50,000 kilograms of tomatoes have been thrown at anyone or anything that moves, runs, or fights back. Then everyone heads down to the river to make friends again—and for a much-needed wash!
In the Stilton cheese rolling competition, competitors on each team must .

A．wear various formal clothes

B．roll a wooden cheese in their own lane

C．kick or throw their cheese

D．use a real cheese weighing about four kilos

Where is the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival held?

A．In New Mexico.	B．In the Caribbean.
C．In Australia.	D．In China.

The celebration of La Tomatina lasts .

A．three days	B．seven days
C．less than three days	D．more than seven days

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．The chief prize for the Stilton cheese rolling competition is beer or port wine.

B．More than 10,000 Chinese take pail in the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival.

C．Thousands of spicy foods are on show in the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival.

D．An exciting tomato battle takes place at the beginning of La Tomatina.

D
Technological change is everywhere and affects every aspect of life, mostly for the better. However, social changes are brought about by new technology are often mistaken for a change in attitudes.
An example at hand is the involvement of parents in the lives of their children who are attending college. Surveys (调查) on this topic suggests that parents today continue to be “very” or “somewhat” overly-protective even after their children move into college dormitories. The same surveys also indicate that the rate of parental involvement is greater today than it was a generation ago. This is usually interpreted as a sign that today’s parents are trying to manage their children’s lives past the point where this behavior is appropriate.
However, greater parental involvement does not necessarily indicate that parents are failing to let go of their “adult” children.
In the context (背景) of this discussion, it seems valuable to first find out the cause of change in the case of parents’ involvement with their grown children. If parents of earlier generations had wanted to be in touch with their college-age children frequently, would this have been possible? Probably not. On the other hand, does the possibility of frequent communication today mean that the urge to do so wasn’t present a generation ago? Many studies show that older parents - today’s grandparents - would have called their children more often if the means and cost of doing so had not been a barrier.
Furthermore, studies show that finances are the most frequent subject of communication between parents and their college children. The fact that college students are financially dependent on their parents is nothing new; nor are requests for more money to be sent from home. This phenomenon is neither good nor bad; it is a fact of college life, today and in the past.
Thanks to the advanced technology, we live in an age of bettered communication. This has many implications well beyondthe role that parents seem to play in the lives of their children who have left for college. But it is useful to bear in mind that all such changes come from the technology and not some imagined desire by parents to keep their children under their wings.
The surveys inform us of ______.

A．the development of technology

B．the changes of adult children’s behavior

C．the parents’ over-protection of their college children

D．the means and expenses of students’ communication

The writer believes that ______.

A．parents today are more protective than those in the past

B．the disadvantages of new technology outweigh its advantages

C．technology explains greater parental involvement with their children

D．parents’ changed attitudes lead to college children’s delayed independence

What is the best title for the passage?

A．Technology or Attitude

B．Dependence or Independence

C．Family Influence or Social Changes

D．College Management or Communication Advancement

Which of the following shows the development of ideas in this passage?

C
Life in the Clear
Transparent animals let light pass through their bodies the same way light passes through a window. These animals typically live between the surface of the ocean and a depth of about 3,300 feet—as far as most light can reach. Most of them are extremely delicate and can be damaged by a simple touch. Sonke Johnsen, a scientist in biology, says, “These animals live through their life alone. They never touch anything unless they’re eating it, or unless something is eating them.”
And they are as clear as glass. How does an animal become see-through? It’s trickier than you might think.
The objects around you are visible because they interact with light. Light typically travels in a straight line. But some materials slow and scatter(散射) light, bouncing it away from its original path. Others absorb light, stopping it dead in its tracks. Both scattering and absorption make an object look different from other objects around it, so you can see it easily.
But a transparent object doesn’t absorb or scatter light, at least not very much, Light can pass through it without bending or stopping. That means a transparent object doesn’t look very different from the surrounding air or water. You don’t see it ----you see the things behind it.
To become transparent, an animal needs to keep its body from absorbing or scattering light. Living materials can stop light because they contain pigments(色素) that absorb specific colors of light. But a transparent animal doesn’t have pigments, so its tissues won’t absorb light. According to Johnsen, avoiding absorption is actually easy. The real challenge is preventing light from scattering.
Animals are built of many different materials----skin, fat, and more----and light moves through each at a different speed. Every time light moves into a material with a new speed, it bends and scatters. Transparent animals use different tricks to fight scattering. Some animals are simply very small or extremely flat. Without much tissue to scatter light, it is easier to be see—through. Others build a large, clear mass of non-living jelly-lie(果冻状的)material and spread themselves over it .
Larger transparent animals have the biggest challenge, because they have to make all the different tissues in their bodies slow down light exactly as much as water does. They need to look uniform. But how they’re doing it is still unknown. One thing is clear for these larger animals, staying transparent is an active process. When they die, they turn a non-transparent milky white.
According to Paragraph 1, transparent animals_______.

A．stay in groups	B．can be easily damaged
C．appear only in deep ocean	D．are beautiful creatures

The underlined word “dead” in Paragraph 3 means__________.

A．silently	B．gradually
C．regularly	D．completely

One way for an animal to become transparent is to ________.

A．change the direction of light travel

B．gather materials to scatter light.

C．avoid the absorption of light

D．grow bigger to stop light.

The last paragraph tells us that larger transparent animals________.

A．move more slowly in deep water

B．stay see-through even after death

C．produce more tissues for their survival

D．take effective action to reduce light spreading

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1．

TV Ears helps you（）.

A．	improve your sleeping quality
B．	listen to TV without disturbing others
C．	change TV channels without difficulty
D．	become interested in ballgame programs

2．

What makes TV Ears different from other headsets?（）

A．	It can easily set TV on mute.
B．	Its headset volume is adjustable.
C．	It has a new noise reduction car tip.
D．	It applies special wireless technology.

3．

This advertisement is made more believable by（）.

A．	using recommendations
B．	offering reasons for this invention
C．	providing statistics.
D．	showing the results of experiments.

阅读下列短文：从每题所给的 A、B、C、D 四个选项中，选出最佳选项，将正确的选项涂在答题卡上。
A
The Boy Made It!
One Sunday, Nicholas, a teenager, went skiing at Sugarloaf Mountain in Maine. In the early afternoon, when he was planning to go home, a fierce snowstorm swept into the area. Unable to see far, he accidentally turned off the path. Before he knew it, Nicholas was lost, all alone! He didn’t have food, water, a phone, or other supplies. He was getting colder by the minute.
Nicholas had no idea where he was. He tried not to panic. He thought about all the survival shows he had watched on TV. It was time to put the tips he had learned to use.
He decided to stop skiing. There was a better chance of someone finding him if he stayed put. The first thing he did was to find shelter form the freezing wind and snow. If he didn’t, his body temperature would get very low, which could quickly kill him.
Using his skis, Nicholas built a snow cave. He gathered a huge mass of snow and dug out a hole in the middle. Then he piled branches on top of himself, like a blanket, to stay as warm as he could.
By that evening, Nicholas was really hungry. He ate snow and drank water from a nearby stream so that his body wouldn’t lose too much water. Not knowing how much longer he could last, Nicholas did the only thing he could- he huddled(蜷缩) in his cave and slept.
The next day, Nicholas went out to look for help, but he couldn’t find anyone. He followed his tracks and returned to the snow cave, because without shelter, he could die that night. On Tuesday, Nicholas went out to find help. He had walked for about a mile when a volunteer searcher found him. After two days stuck in the snow, Nicholas was saved.
Nicholas might not have survived this snowstorm had it not been for TV. He had often watched Grylls’ survival show. Man vs. Wild. That’s where he learned the tips that saved his life, In each episode(一期节目)of Man vs. Wild, Grylls is abandoned in a wild area and has to find his way out.
When Grylls heard about Nicholas’ amazing deeds, he was super impressed that Nicholas had made it since he knew better than anyone how hard Nicholas had to work to stay alive.
What happened to Nicholas one Sunday afternoon?

A．He got lost.	B．He broke his skis.
C．He hurt his eyes	D．He caught a cold

How did Nicholas keep himself warm?

A．He found a shelter.	B．He lighted some branches.
C．He kept on skiing.	D．He built a snow cave.

On Tuesday, Nicholas _____.

A．returned to his shelter safely

B．was saved by a searcher

C．got stuck in the snow

D．staved where he was

Nicholas left Grylls a very deep impression because he _____.

A．did the right things in the dangerous situation

B．watched Grylls’ TV program regularly

C．created some tips for survival

D．was very hard-working

A．are all about arts	B．all happen in 2008 only
C．are all celebrated in Edinburgh	D．are all mainly for children