Though war is something people hate, Director Feng Xiaoning often exposes his audien
ce to it.
“If we don’t impress the audience, who are without the painful experience of war, with the cruel injury to life and human nature war causes, how can we bring them a love of peace and objection to war?” asked the director with a glance in his eyes.
After Red River Valley and Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River, both of which star Chinese model and actress Ning Jing, Feng drew a satisfactory full stop to his war trilogy (三部曲) last month with Purple Sunset.
The film tells a story which took place in 1945, at the very moment when World War II was drawing to an end. A Chinese peasant and a Soviet woman soldier flee into a forest, where they seize a Japanese girl. They follow the girl in the hope that she will take them out of the forest, but instead they arri
ve in a Japanese base. Humanity (人道主义) prevents them from killing the young, innocent (无辜的) victim of Japanese militarism. This humanity, the longing for peace and eagerness to survive, make the three unite.
“If people are touched by justice, tolerance and unselfishness, I think I have achieved my goal,” Feng said. Feng admits that there are violent and bloody scenes in the film, such as tanks fighting and Japanese burning Chinese people alive, to show the cruelty of the war. But that’s never his personal preference, he says.
“Everyone who has watched my films can tell how much I hate war,” he said. “I wrote all the things for my war films by myself. Whenever I finished one, I felt as though I had suffered great pain.”
Feng regards every one of his productions as an opportunity to learn about human nature and humanity. In spite of violent scenes which frighten and sicken the audience, a balance is sought with beautiful scenery. Just like the sno
wy mountains in Red River Valley and the grand plateau (高原) in Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River, a beautiful vast grassland appears in this film. “I used to study art, and I appreciate beautiful things,” Feng said. “I believe that films should offer the audience a chance to enjoy beauty.”Director Feng Xiaoning shot war film because _____.
| A．he was deeply interested in such a topic |
| B．he wanted to give the audience the painful experience of war |
| C．he hoped to arouse people’s love of peace and objection to war |
| D．he dreamed of becoming a world-famous director |
All of the following belong to Feng’s war trilogy except _____.
| A．Red River Valley | B．Lover’s Grief over the Yellow River |
| C．Purple Sunset | D．In the Mood for Love |
A Chinese peasant and a Soviet woman solider seized a Japanese girl so that _____.
| A．they could find the Japanese base easily |
| B．she could take them out of the forest |
| C．they could kill her for revenge |
| D．it would cause the Japanese militarism to give in |
Scenes of Japanese burning Chinese people alive i
n the film are to ______.
| A．show that war is cruel |
| B．attract people’s interest |
| C．show Feng’s personal preference in dealing with details |
| D．make the film moving and interesting |
Which is sillier: denying we ever went to the moon or trying to convince the true nonbelievers?
Once upon a time – July 20, 1969, to be specific – two men got out of their little spaceship and wandered around on the moon for a while. Ten more men walked on the moon over the next three and a half years. The end.
Unfortunately, not quite. A fair number of Americans think that this whole business of moon landings really is a fairy tale. They believe that the landings were a big hoax (骗局) staged in the Mojave Desert, to convince everyone that U.S. technology was the “bestest” in the whole wide world.
Which is the harder thing to do: Send men to the moon or make believe we did? The fact is the physics behind sending people to the moon is simple. You can do it with computers whose entire memory capacities can now fit on chips the size of postage stamps and that cost about as much as, well, a postage stamp. I know you can because we did.
However, last fall NASA considered spending $15,000 on a public-relations campaign to convince the unimpressed that Americans had in fact gone to the moon. That idea was mostly a reaction to a Fox television program, first aired in February 2001, that claimed to expose the hoax. The show’s creator is a publicity hound (猎狗) who has lived up to the name in more ways than one by hounding Buzz Aldrin, the second man on the moon. Mr. X (as I will call him, thereby denying him the joyous sight of his name in print) recently followed Buzz Aldrin around and called him “a thief, liar and coward” until the 72-year-old astronaut finally lost it and hit the 37-year-old Mr. X in the face.
Anyway, NASA’s publicity campaign began to slow down. The nonbelievers took the campaign as NASA’s effort to hide something while the believers said that $15,000 to convince people that the world was round — I mean, that we had gone to the moon — was simply a waste of money. (Actually, the $15,000 was supposed to pay for an article by James E. Oberg, an astronomy writer who, with Aldrin, has contributed to Scientific American.)
If NASA’s not paying Oberg, perhaps it could put the money to good use by hiring two big guys to drag Neil Armstrong out of the house. Armstrong is an extremely private man, but he is also the first man on the moon, so maybe he has a duty to be a bit more outspoken about the experience. Or NASA could just buy Aldrin a commemorate plaque (纪念匾) for his recent touch on the face of Mr. X. We can learn from Paragraphs 2 and 3 that some Americans believe _______.
| A．moon landings were invented |
| B．U.S. technology was the best |
| C．moon landing ended successfully |
| D．the Mojave Desert was the launching base |
According to the writer, which of the following is to blame for the story about the hoax?
| A．NASA’s publicity campaign. | B．The Fox television program. |
| C．Buzz Aldrin. | D．James E. Oberg. |
According to the writer, Mr. X _______.
| A．told a faithful story | B．was not treated properly |
| C．was a talented creator | D．had a bad reputation |
The believers think that NASA’s publicity campaign is ________.
| A．proof to hide the truth |
| B．stupid and unnecessary |
| C．needed to convince the non-believers |
| D．important to develop space technology |
The tone of the article is _______.
| A．angry | B．conversational | C．humorous | D．matter-of-fact |
“Confidence” is probably one of the most noticeable traits(品质)in the Americans. They show confidence in the way they talk, the way they smile, the way they dress and the way they walk. Living and competing with all these confidence American students, I find it extremely important to be confident as an international student and instructor. As a student, being confident means you should never hesitate to raise your hand whenever a question or a point comes to your mind. Don’t mind if it sounds simple or silly. Otherwise you will never get a chance to speak in class at all. What’s worse, the professors may think you are not prepared for the discussion or you do not have your own opinion on the issue-this is the last comment any graduate would like to receive。
Being confidence for me as a foreign instructor means calmly asking the student to repeat what he or she has said if I did not get it. Pretending to understand what you actually did not may just bring yourself embarrassment or even disgrace. But the time I most need to be confident is when my students come to my office and bargain about the grades I have given for their Speeches。(The course I’m teaching here is Public Speaking). Modesty is a trait highly valued in China, but it won’t be of much help here if you want to survive and succeed in a good American graduate program．To compete with American students it’s very important to
| A．be quite confident |
| B．be polite and friendly |
| C．have more discussions with |
| D．understand what they think about |
A professor will have the worst opinion of a student who
| A．gives a silly or simple answer |
| B．tries to seize any chance to speak in class |
| C．shows no interest in the course |
| D．is considered to have no opinion of his own |
The author is most likely to feel embarrassed if
| A．he asks a student to repeat what he has said |
| B．the students bargain with him |
| C．he pretends to know what he doesn’t |
| D．he has to give a speech |
We learn from the second paragraph that
| A．we should also remain modest in America |
| B．modesty doesn’t help modest in America |
| C．American also like modest people |
| D．modesty can help you through an American graduate program |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．American students are ready to accept the grades from the teacher. |
| B．The writer teaches in Europe for a living. |
| C．Students are encouraged to present simple questions. |
| D．One’s ignorance will give away in time. |
For the last couple of weeks, I had been stuck in front of my computer working on a project that was very important to me. My every waking hour was consumed by the project and although I imagined that I would feel happy after completing parts of the project, I was confused to find that instead, I was feeling rather depressed. I tried a range of methods to help cheer myself up. I had a relaxing bath, cooked a delicious meal to enjoy with my family and even watched a lighthearted movie, but to no avail. It was only when I turned to meditation(沉思)for a solution that the answer came to me: turn to nature!
The very next day, I grabbed my camera and a bottle of water and set off to spend a few hours walking in a nature reserve, even though it was pouring with rain. Within a couple of minutes I felt alive again. To be honest, I felt like a young school girl again and had to stop myself from hopping along the path singing, "I'm singing in the rain", a song I used to sing when I was a child. I think as adults we often try too hard to control our inner children and as a result we restrain(限制) our own spirits, which only leads to depression and stress.
Interestingly, it has been shown that people who spend 40 minutes walking in a nature reserve have a drop in their blood pressure levels, but this does not happen when they spend a similar amount of time walking in a busy city centre.
If you feel a little low in spirit and know that you have spent too much time indoors, relax completely, remove your shoes and let your inner child come out and play.The author felt depressed because she __________.
| A．couldn't consume her waking hour |
| B．had not seen a film for a long time. |
| C．had not finished her work on time |
| D．had worked on a hard job for too long |
The author walked in a nature reserve in the rain in order to__________.
| A．take photos | B．find a solution to the project |
| C．hop along the path | D．cheer herself up |
The underlined part "to no avail" in Paragraph 1 probably means " __________.".
| A．unsuccessful | B．unrelated | C．uninteresting | D．unexpected |
In the author's opinion, __________.
| A．a bath can make people relaxed |
| B．depression is usually caused by hard work |
| C．walking in a busy city centre harms people's health |
| D．adults should express their inner feelings freely |
The last paragraph mainly serves as a(n) __________.
| A．explanation | B．suggestion | C．introduction | D．reminder |
For high school leavers starting out in the working world，it is very important to learn particular skills and practice how to behave in an interview or how to find all internship(实习)．In some countries，schools have programs to help students onto the path to work．In the Unites States，however，such programs are still few and far between．
Research shows that if high schools provide career-related courses，students are likely to get higher earnings in later years．The students are more likely to stay in school，graduate and go on to higher education．
In Germany，students as young as 13 and 14 are expected to do internships．German companies work with schools to make sure that young people get the education they need for future employment．
But in America, education reform programs focus on how well students do in exams instead of bringing them into contact with the working world．Harvard Education school professor Robert
Schwartz has criticized education reformers for trying to place all graduates directly on the four-year college track．Schwartz argued that this approach leaves the country’s most vulnerable(易受影响的)kids with no jobs and no skills．
Schwartz believed that the best career programs encourage kids to go for higher education while also teaching them valuable practical skills at high sch001．James Madison High School in New York，for example，encourages students to choose classes on career—based courses．The school then helps them gain on—the-job experience in those fields while they’re still at high school．
However，even for teens whose schools encourage them to connect with work，the job market is daunting．In the US，unemployment rates for 16-to 19-year-olds are above 20 percent for the third summer in a row．
“The risk is that if teenagers miss out on the Summer job experience，they become part of this generation of teens who had trouble in landing a job，”said Michael，a researcher in the US.In the author’s opinion．American high school leavers__________.
| A．have enough career-related courses |
| B．need more career advice from their schools |
| C．perform better in exams than German students |
| D．can get higher earnings in later years |
According to Robert Schwartz，_________．
| A．there is no need for kids to go for higher education in the US |
| B．students should get contact with the working world at high school |
| C．education reform should focus on students’performance in exams |
| D．teenagers in the US can’t miss out on the summer job experience |
What can be inferred from the text?
| A．Unemployment rates for US teenagers remain hi曲at the moment． |
| B．Students with career—based courses never have problems finding a job． |
| C．US companies work with schools to prepare young people for future employment． |
| D．High school leavers with no practical skills can’t find a job absolutely |
What’S the main idea of the text?
| A．Arguments about recent US education reform． |
| B．Tips on finding jobs for high school leavers． |
| C．The lack of career—based courses in US high schools |
| D．Advice for American high school leavers |
The underlined word “daunting” in Paragraph 6 most probably means___________.
| A．discouraging | B．interesting | C．creative | D．unbearable |
Scientists in Mexico have just begun a new study of one of the world’s biggest pyramids: the Pyramid of the Sun, north of Mexico City. They’re putting lots of small, high-tech machines under the pyramid to try to unlock some of its secrets. For thousands of years, people have tried to uncover the secrets of the pyramids.
The people who built the pyramids made lots of secret doors and rooms to stop robbers from finding the treasures inside. However, there always have been some smart thieves in history. Now, almost all of Egypt’s pyramids have been robbed, including the Great Pyramid of Khufu, which is the largest pyramid in the world. It is the only one of the ancient wonders of the world that is still standing.
In AD 820, an Arab king named Abdullah AL Manum got a group of workers to dig their way into the Great Pyramid and have a look. Inside the pyramid, they found three rooms --- the Queen’s Chamber, the Grand Gallery and the King’s Chamber. But to their surprise, the men didn’t find the treasures they wanted. The Queen’s and King’s Chambers were both empty! Where were the King’s mummy and his treasures? Had someone already taken them away? The huge stone doors at the pyramid’s entrance were still closed when AL Manum’s men went inside. How had the thieves got in and out?
Since then, many people have gone inside the Great Pyramid to have a look or to try to take things. But still, no other chambers or walkways have been found.
In 2002, an American team made the most recent visit to the Great Pyramid. Scientists sent a robot into the pyramid, but they only found a mysterious locked stone door.The first two paragraphs were written to show that ________.
| A．the Pyramid of the Sun is an unusual historic building |
| B．ancient Egyptian emperors were cruel |
| C．construction workers led a hard life in ancient Egypt |
| D．the secrets of the pyramids remain to be uncovered |
What is the purpose of making some secret doors to the pyramids?
| A．To try to unlock some of its secrets. |
| B．To stop robbers from finding the treasures inside. |
| C．To refuse some visitors all over the world into it. |
| D．To tell the truth to the people in the future. |
Which of the following is NOT true to the Great Pyramid of Khufu?
| A．It is the largest pyramid in the world. |
| B．It is the only one of the ancient wonders that is still standing. |
| C．Abdullah AL Manum took the King’s mummy and his treasures away. |
| D．Scientists found a mysterious locked stone door to the Great Pyramid. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．The Pyramid of the Sun |
| B．The Great Pyramid of Khufu |
| C．A Mysterious Locked Stone Door |
| D．Unlocking the Doors of History |