A simple flower made headlines in the British press last week. How could that be?
British Prime Minister David Cameron and his ministers were attending a reception hosted by Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. They insisted on wearing poppies(罂粟花) in their buttonholes.
What’s wrong with that?
According to the Global Times, Chinese officials apparently had asked the UK delegation not to wear poppies. The British said that poppies meant a great deal to them on that day and they would wear them all the same.
So what’s the significance of the poppy? It’s a flower which has different cultural and symbolic meanings for British and Chinese people.
From the Chinese point of view, the poppy is a symbol of China’s humiliation at the hands of European powers in the Opium Wars of the 19th century. Britain forced China to open the borders to trade —including in the opium —which was made from poppies grown in India.
Yet from the British viewpoint the poppy is a reminder of the killing during Word War I. Red poppies grew on the battlefields of Flanders in Belgium where many thousands of British soldiers died or were buried. Since then, Poppy Day (November 11) has become a time in the UK to wear poppies and remember the sacrifices of British soldiers and civilians in times of war.
So you can see that the poppy sets off strong feelings in the hearts of Chinese and British people for different reasons. And it makes sense for us to try to understand each other’s standpoint.
Of course cultural differences can also be interesting and funny. And what one nation thinks is an acceptable gift may be viewed differently by their guest from overseas. US President Barack Obama gave a gift of an iPod to Britain’s Queen —a dull person with no interest in music. Obama also presented Gordon Brown with a fine selection of American movies. But they were in US format and impossible to play on British DVD players.
Many countries have diplomats stationed overseas. Diplomats provide information and advice to their governments back home. However, sometimes it would seem that even diplomats can overlook the cultural significance of a small flower.
( ) . British Prime Minister David Cameron probably attended a reception in Beijing on .
| A．October 1 | B．November 11 | C．December 31 | D．January 1 |
( ) . The poppy reminds the Chinese of .
| A．the shame caused by European countries in the 19th century |
| B．the British soldiers who were killed and buried during World War I |
| C．the Chinese soldiers killed during World War II |
| D．the suffering caused by Britain during World War I |
( ) . The diplomatic problem in Beijing is mainly caused by .
| A．the translation mistake | B．the language difference |
| C．the cultural difference | D．the different lifestyle |
( ) . We can infer that .
| A．Britain’s Queen is not interested in art |
| B．Gordon Brown was fond of American movies US President Barack Obama sent him |
| C．US President Barack Obama received a gift for music |
| D．Britain’s Queen may not like the iPod US President Barack Obama presented her |
( ) . What is the main idea of the 9th paragraph?
| A．Cultural difference can also be interesting and funny. |
| B．Cultural differences can cause a big problem. |
| C．US President Barack Obama likes to present gifts to other leaders. |
| D．US leaders and British leaders get along well with each other. |
We have been providing performing arts information for over 14 years. Here you can search for plays, musicals, concerts and operas across the UK.
| Bob the Builder—Spud’s Big Mess at Apollo Theatre Children will be happy to see and sing along with their favorite characters. Bob, with his hard-working team, builds a new eco-centered wind farm in Sunflower Valley. This show is full of fun, and provides an educational message to help children learn about caring about the environment, recycling and, of course, teamwork. [Kids show] Dates: From 1st November, 2009 to 8th May, 2010, at 19:00. Price information: ￡20.00 to ￡40.00 |
| The Lion King at Sunny Theatre It is taken from an African story. A young lion grows up and learns that taking over the pride requires wisdom. [Musical] Dates: From 24th September, 1999 to now. Tuesday to Saturday at 14:00. Sunday at 15:00. Not on show on Monday. Price information:￡22.5 to￡65.00 |
| Mother Courage and Her Children at National Theatre Mother Courage sells food and clothing to soldiers and tries to keep her business and children alive at all costs during the war. Her encouraging story is told through humor and song. [Play] Dates: From 9th September, 2009 to 8th December, 2009 Price information:￡10.00 |
| Duke Bluebeard’s Castleat Coliseum Theatre Full of curiosity, Judith persuades her husband to give her the keys only to discover a glowing jewel house, a garden of flowers, a kingdom, and a lake of tears. But what is behind them? [Opera] Dates: From 6th November, 2009 to 28th November, 2009 Nov 6, 10, 12, 20, 25 at19:30. Nov 14, 28 at 18:30 Price information:￡22.00 to ￡50.00 |
The main purpose of the text is to inform readers of____.
| A．film posters |
| B．performance information |
| C．the theatre’s advice |
| D．picture exhibitions |
Which performance will be on show for the shortest period of time?
| A．Bob the Builder—Spud’s Big Mess |
| B．The Lion King |
| C．Mother Courage and Her Children |
| D．Duke Bluebeard’s Castle |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．The first three shows are inspiring. |
| B．The shows are intended for children. |
| C．All of them have won many awards. |
| D．The characters in the shows are brave. |
This is the age of being busy. Many of us live in busy places and have busy lives. Even the roads are busy as we try to get from here to there. Adults are busy going to jobs and taking care of their families. Kids are busy, too, going to school and doing a lot of homework after school and on weekends.
Busy isn’t bad, necessarily. If you are not busy enough you might be bored. But if you are too busy, you might break down. For example, if you have a soccer game that runs late on a school night and you haven’t eaten dinner or done your homework, that’s a not-so-fun kind of busy. We wanted to know what kids thought, so we did a kidsPoll about being busy with 882girls and boys aged 9 to 13.
Almost all of them said they felt stressed because they were too busy. About half said they felt this way once in a while or some of the time. But 17% said they felt this way most of the time and 24% said they felt this all the time! Oh dear, that’s no fun.
Only 4% of kids said they wanted less free time and 18% said they already had just the right amount. But, no big surprise, 61% of kids wish they had a lot more free time. If they had more time, most would spend it hanging out or playing with friends.
Often, adults plan large parts of a kid ’s day, especially during the school year. kids can’t tell their parents they’ll be skipping school(逃学) today to get more free time! But they can tell their parents they’d like to play a game or read a book during their free time instead of watching TV.The purpose of the first paragraph is to _____.
| A．Introduce the topic |
| B．Support the main idea |
| C．Raise the topic sentence |
| D．Attract the readers’ attention |
By giving the example of a late soccer game, the writer intends to tell us______.
| A．Being too busy is bad for the kids |
| B．It is no fun to be busy for the kids |
| C．Homework should go before gam. |
| D．Being busy may cause the kids to feel bored |
According to the passage, the KidsPoll is done to carry out research on _____.
| A．How kids arrange their free time |
| B．What kids think of being busy |
| C．How many kids felt stressed |
| D．What kids do with their study |
From the passage, we can infer that the writer agrees kids can_____.
| A．Spend their free time hanging or playing out |
| B．Get a lot more free time from their parents |
| C．Have a right amount of free time with permission |
| D．Get more free time from school work sometimes |
Eric and Doris King Turner are packing their bags for New Zealand. They're busy deciding what to pack and what to leave behind in Britain and are making plans to extend their new home in Nelson. Doris is looking forward to getting the garden into shape and Eric has his heart set on a spot of fly fishing. The difference is that Eric is 102, Doris is 87. Eric thinks he's Britain's oldest emigrant.
In January next year Eric King Turner and his wife of 12 years will wave goodbye to their neighbors, and set sail from Southampton on the voyage of a lifetime. The ocean liner (远洋客轮)Saga Rose will take six weeks to get to Auckland and the couple are expecting a red-carpet welcome from family.
Doris was born in New Zealand but gave up her homeland when the couple met and married in the late 1990s. But New Zealand is close to both their hearts and the attraction of family and friends, and the good fishing helped to persuade them to move.
Doris, who has five children and nine grandchildren, supported her husband's application to settle in New Zealand. The paperwork took five months. Eric says, "We not only had to produce a marriage certificate（证书） but we had to produce evidence that we were in a long and stable relationship!" He also said he was not asked about his age but had to show that he could support himself financially (财政上) in New Zealand.
"I like New Zealand. The way of life is very much the same as it is here but it is not so crowded." His wife has always been “a little bit homesick” but has never complained. Now the couple are in the middle of the task of sorting out possessions and selling their flat.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．They decided to leave all the things behind in Britain. |
| B．The wife always complained about the life in Britain. |
| C．The couple will set up their new home in Nelson. |
| D．Doris and Eric will go to New Zealand to hold the wedding. |
The underlined word "emigrant" in Paragraph 1 probably refers to a person who___.
| A．lives in a country forever | B．moves from one place to settle in another |
| C．travels around the world | D．visits many places in a country |
What makes the couple's move to New Zealand special?
| A．Their age. | B．The red carpet. |
| C．The ocean liner Saga Rose. | D．Their marriage certificate. |
The best title of the passage may be .
| A．Better late than never |
| B．Eric and Doris King-Turner are packing their bags |
| C．To leave or not to leave, that's the problem |
| D．Eric, 102, leaves Britain with his wife |
Even facts “forgotten” by people during a busy day may be retrieved if this is followed by a good night’s sleep.
Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to remember simple words．Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of the day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could recall much more.
Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain could “rescue” lost memories during the night.
When the brain is first asked to remember something that memory is laid down in an “unstable” state, meaning that it is possible that it could be lost．At some point, the brain consolidates those it deems important into a “stable”, more permanent state．However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible for a “stable” memory to be made “unstable” again．This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away again in the face of new experiences.
The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created through a speech synthesizer which were purposely difficult to understand．Initially, the written version of the word from the audio version only．Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to tail off as the day ended.
However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night’s sleep, they were able to recall some words that they had “ forgotten” the previous evening.
Dr Daniel, one of the study authors, said: “Sleep consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent interference or decay．Sleep also appears to “recover” or restore memories.” He said: “If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might actively recover what has been lost.”
Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill University in Montreal, said: “Memory research is undergoing a transformation---no longer is memory thought to be a hard-writing of the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and restorage.”
Sleep helps some memories “mature” and also prunes out unimportant memories.What does the first paragraph implies?
| A．A busy day makes people forget things easily. |
| B．People need a good night’s sleep after a busy day. |
| C．A good night’s sleep helps memories. |
| D．A good night’s sleep helps people forget a busy day. |
The words the 12 volunteers played in the experiment were not ____
| A．created through a speech synthesizer |
| B．hard to understand |
| C．available at the beginning |
| D．designed to test people’s ability of understanding |
According to the passage, memory_____
| A．is a hard-writing of the brain |
| B．is not a process of storage |
| C．is not a process of restorage |
| D．will be mature with the help of sleep |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．When people first remember something, the memory is in an “unstable state”. |
| B．The brain will change those important unstable memories into stable. |
| C．Once the memory become stable, it will never become unstable again. |
| D．Sleep can protect memories from being harmed. |
A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you combine the two to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to bury it in a garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.
A biodegradable (生物所能分解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage consumers to recycle.
Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic and can be hard or soft, and is able to change shape. Over time it can also break down into the soil without giving out any poisonous chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this new type of cover turns into waste, it forms fertilizers. These feed the seed and help the flower grow.
Engineers have designed a small transparent (透明的) window to hold the seed. They have made sure it only grows when the phone is thrown away. “We’ve only put sunflower seeds into the covers so far. But we are working with plant experts to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time,” said one scientist.
As phone technology is developing so quickly, people are constantly throwing their mobiles away. This means manufacturers are under pressure to find ways of recycling them. Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can offer some relief (缓解) for nature , according to the scientists.
“The seed comes out and the flower grows in the pot so you don’t have to concern yourself with the phone when you have finished using it,” said Kerry Kirwan. She leads the research team, which is based at the University of Warwick in Britain.What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To tell the popularity of biodegradable cell phones. |
| B．To persuade the reader to buy the biodegradable cell phone. |
| C．To discuss the development of phone technology. |
| D．To introduce an environmentally-friendly cell phone to readers. |
People throw away their cell phones most probably because _______.
| A．there is something wrong with them |
| B．no sunflowers can grow out of them |
| C．they are out of fashion |
| D．they are becoming cheaper and cheaper |
It could be learned from the passage that _________.
| A．developing the new type of phone is mainly to protect the environment |
| B．phone-makers will benefit much more from the new type of phone |
| C．the new type of phone will certainly be popular with users all over the world |
| D．the phones that can be recycled are available only in Britain now |