“Mum, what does it mean when someone tells you that they have a skeleton (骨骼) in the closet (衣橱)?” Jessica asked. “A skeleton in the closet?” her mother paused thoughtfully. “Well, it’s something that you would rather not have anyone else know about. For example, if in the past, someone in Dad’s family had been arrested for stealing a horse, it would be ‘a skeleton in his family’s closet’. He really wouldn’t want any neighbor to know about it.”
“Why pick on my family?” Jessica’s father said with anger. “Your family history isn’t so good, you know. Wasn’t you great-great grandfather a prisoner who was transported to Australia for his crimes?” “Yes, but people these days say that you are not a real Australian unless your ancestors arrived as prisoners.” “Gosh, sorry for my asking. I think I understand now,” Jessica cut in before things grew worse.
After dinner, the house was very quiet. Jessica’s parents were still quite angry with each other. Her mother was ironing clothes and every now and then she glared at her husband, who hid behind his newspaper, pretending to read. When she finished, she gathered the freshly pressed clothes in her arms and walked to Jessica’s closet. Just as she opened the door and reached in to hang a skirt, a bony arm stuck out from the dark depths and a bundle of white bones fell to the floor. Jessica’s mother sank into a faint (晕倒), waking only when Jessica put a cold, wet cloth on her forehead. She looked up to see the worried faces of her husband and daughter.
“What happened? Where am I?” she asked. “You just destroyed the school’s skeleton, Mum,” explained Jessica. “I brought it home to help me with my health project. I meant to tell you, but it seemed that as soon as I mentioned skeletons and closets, it caused a problem between you and Dad.” Jessica looked in amazement as her parents began to laugh madly. “They’re both crazy,” she thought.According to Jessica’s mother, “a skeleton in the closet” means ______.
| A．a family honor | B．a family secret | C．a family story | D．a family treasure |
What can we learn about some Australian’s ancestors from Paragraph 2?
| A．They were brought to Australia as prisoners. |
| B．They were the earliest people living in Australia. |
| C．They were involved in some crimes in Australia. |
| D．They were not regarded as criminals in their days. |
Jessica’s mother fell down into a faint because she was ______.
| A．knocked | B．frightened | C．injured | D．surprised |
Why did Jessica bring a skeleton home?
| A．She was very curious about it. |
| B．She planned to keep it for fun. |
| C．She needed it for her school task. |
| D．She intended to scare her parents. |
Jessica’s parents laughed madly at the end of the story probably because ______.
| A．they were quite crazy |
| B．they realized their misunderstanding |
| C．they were overexcited |
| D．they both thought they had won the quarrel |
Is gun play good or bad for children? For many years I emphasized its harmlessness. When concerned parents expressed doubt about letting their children have toy guns, because they didn’t want to encourage them in the slightest degree to become criminals, I would explain how little connection there was. In the course of growing up, children have a natural tendency to bring their aggressiveness more and more under control if their parents encourage this. One- to two-year-olds, when they are angry with another child, may bite the child’s arm without hesitation. But by 3 or 4 they have already learned that aggression is not right. However, they may pretend to shoot their mother or father, but smiling to assure them that the gun and the aggressive behaviour aren’t to be taken seriously.
In the 6- to 12-year-old period, children will play an earnest game of war, but it has lots of rules. There may be arguments, but real fights are relatively rare. At this age children don’t shoot at their mother or father, even in fun. It’s not that the parents have turned stricter; the children’s own conscience has. In adolescence aggressive feelings become much stronger, but well brought-up children can turn them into athletics and other competition or into kidding their friends.
In other words, I’d explain that playing at war is a natural step in the disciplining of the aggression of young children; that a cautious parent doesn’t really need to worry about producing a criminal.
But nowadays I’d give parents much more encouragement to guide their child away from violence. A number of incidents have convinced me of the importance of this.
One of the first things that made me change my mind, several years ago, was an observation that an experienced nursery school teacher told me about. Her children were hitting each other much more than previously, without reason. When she talked to them, they would protest, “But that’s what the Three Stooges do.” (This was a children’s TV program full of violence which immediately became very popular.)
What further shocked me into reconsidering my view was the assassination(暗杀）of the former President, and the fact that some schoolchildren cheered about this. (I didn’t so much blame the children as I blamed the kind of parents who will say about a President they dislike, “I’d shoot him if I got the chance!”）
These incidents made me think of other evidences that Americans often tolerate lawlessness and violence. We were hard on the Indians and the later waves of immigrants. At times we denied justice to groups with different religions or political views. And now a great percentage of our adult as well as our child population has been endlessly fascinated with dramas of Western violence and with cruel crime stories, in movies and on television. This doesn’t necessarily mean that we Americans on the average have more aggressiveness inside us than the people of other nations. I think rather that the aggressiveness we have is less controlled, from childhood on.
To me it seems very clear that in order to have a more stable and civilized national life we must bring up the next generation of Americans with a greater respect for law and for other people’s rights than in the past. There are many ways in which we could and should teach these attitudes. One simple opportunity we could seize in the first half of childhood is to show our disapproval of lawlessness and violence in television programs and in children’s gun play.
I also believe that the survival of the world now depends on a much greater awareness of the need to avoid war and to actively seek peaceful agreements. There are enough nuclear arms to completely destroy all civilization. This terrifying situation demands a much greater stability and self-control on the part of national leaders and citizens than they have ever shown in the past. We owe it to our children to prepare them deliberately for this awesome responsibility.The underlined word “this” in Paragraph 1 refers to______.
| A．controlling their aggressiveness |
| B．playing with toy guns |
| C．aggressive behavior |
| D．the course of growing up |
Based on the author’s view about the relationship between children’s aggressiveness and their age, which of the following is true?
| A．A 2-year old boy knows that it is not correct to behave aggressively. |
| B．The older children become, the less aggressive they will be. |
| C．6- to 12-year-olds enjoy war games but develop them into argument and serious fights. |
| D．Adolescents’ aggressiveness is often displayed in the form of competition. |
What conclusion does the author intend to draw from the story told by the nursery school teacher?
| A．Watching violence can lower a child’s standard of behaviour. |
| B．Violent TV programs should be banned in nursery schools. |
| C．Children are generally lawless or violent nowadays. I |
| D．It is acceptable to let children have toy guns |
What does Paragraph 7 mainly talk about?
| A．Examples showing that Americans are more aggressive than other nations. |
| B．Evidences proving that America has a long history of lawlessness and violence. |
| C．The idea that children are less able to put their aggressiveness under control. |
| D．More reasons why the author changed his view on the main issue of the article. |
What is a must if people intend to enjoy stability and civilized national life?
| A．To show disapproval of gun play in television programs. |
| B．To make people aware that there are already enough nuclear arms. |
| C．To elect national leaders with greater stability and self-control. |
| D．To bring up children who show more respect for the law and others’ rights. |
Which of the following serves best as the title of the article?
| A．How Does Age Influence Aggressiveness? |
| B．Are American Children Becoming More Aggressive? |
| C．Should Children Play With Guns? |
| D．What Should Parents Teach Their Children |
International teams have spent nearly half a year looking for evidence of the missing Malaysian Airlines plane, a search that includes the hunt for the aircraft’s so-called black box, which holds flight data that would likely explain what caused MH370 to move away from its course. But many aviation experts wonder why, in our increasingly networked world, divers are searching the Indian Ocean for a metal box when technology already exists that would enable planes to stream black box data to the ground in the event of an emergency.
Black boxes have been on planes since the late 1950s, and now every commercial aircraft has two: a flight data recorder and a voice recorder. (Although they are referred to as black boxes, they are typically orange in color, making them easier to spot in waters.) Black box recorders are mainly used to investigate the cause of in-flight accidents.
While black boxes are built to survive a crash and long-term submersion(浸没）in water, it can be a real challenge to find the device if a plane has gone down in the ocean. While each box contains a beacon(无线电信标台), the unit only has enough battery power to transmit a signal for 30 days. After the crash of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean in June 2009, it took divers two years to find the black box.
Pierre Jeanniot, a Canadian engineer who helped perfect black box technology about 40 years ago, feels that the device, in its current form, is “obsolete”. He started to question its effectiveness more than a decade ago, after seeing the broken pieces of the black boxes in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade towers in New York. Jeanniot is now on the advisory board of a Toronto-based firm that has built a live-streamed black box system. When a plane experiences an irregular event, the system can send streaming data off the aircraft to one of the satellites and then down to ground-based servers, where the message is interpreted and sent to the airline. It seems necessary that the loss of MH370 and other similar cases wake more people up to the fact that the tools being used at this stage are inadequate for dealing with emergency situations, Jeanniot says. He also estimates that if this technology had been on board the missing Malaysian Airlines flight and live-streaming for the estimated seven hours after the flight first experienced a problem, it would have cost about $3,000.
While there is widespread approval of a live-streamed black box system, most airlines see its cost prohibitive. The airline industry is an industry with small profits, and is reluctant to add costs that will further cut the bottom line.
However, given how much time, money and effort has been spent on the luckless search for MH370, s black box, the cost of operating a live-streaming version seems like a trifle(区区小数)In this passage, the underlined word “obsolete” probably means .
| A．out of date | B．out of use |
| C．on the move | D．on the increase |
Which fact is mentioned to support aviation experts’ doubt about the effectiveness of the black box?
| A．MH370’s black box holds flight data that might explain what happened to the aircraft. |
| B．The recorders are actually orange in color though referred to as black boxes. |
| C．The beacon in the black box has limited battery power to send out a signal for 30 days. |
| D．It’s necessary for people to wake up to the weaknesses of the black box |
What’s airlines’ attitude towards the live-streamed black box system?
| A．They approve of the system since it may save time, money and effort. |
| B．They consider using the system as the bottom line of costs. |
| C．They are reluctant to start the system because it still needs improving. |
| D．They are unwilling to equip planes with the system as it cuts their profits. |
From the passage, we can learn that__________.
| A．it takes divers one or two years to find the black box after a crash |
| B．the new system does not live stream black box data for the whole flight |
| C．Jeanniot changed his view on black box technology when working for a Canadian firm |
| D．operating a live-streamed black box system costs only three thousand dollars |
At Japan’s Studio Ghibli, which has produced extraordinary animated films(动画片）since 1985, the best-known figure has always been one of the company’s founders, Hayao Miyazaki.
But an equally key figure is co-founder Isao Takahata, who has recently made a new feature, The Tale of Princess Kagnya. It is an unforgettable feature with an unusual hand-drawn aesthetic(美感).
The title character is a tiny baby girl who appears in a bamboo plant. She is found by a woodcutter, who takes her home and brings her up. He believes the little girl is a princess, and sets about preparing what he regards as a suitable world for her.
This original story is the oldest work of fiction in Japan; every child knows it in its simplified folktale form.
“It is a fascinating story with elements of wonder, humour, and sorrow,’’ Takahata says, “but these three elements are scattered(分散）about.” The chief challenge for anyone trying to adapt it is that “we are completely unable to comprehend what was in the heart of Princess Kaguya. Because of this, despite its being well known, few people consider it interesting. There have been several attempts at making a film out of the story, but they ended up being abandoned.”
He was connected with one of these attempts, but no one paid any attention to his concept.
“Fifty-five years later, I thought my concept was still appealing, and used it as a basis for turning the story into a feature film.”
His concept involves the princess’s origins, her expectations and her access to “the full range of human emotions”.
To realize his vision, Takahata says, “I needed to take the extremely individualistic brushwork and key designs of Osamu Tanabe and Kazuo Oga, two brilliantly talented artists, and have them permeate(扩散）throughout the film. The two of them drew many pictures, but they weren’t nearly enough. The most challenging part was to have all the other animation staff copy their styles in a free and easy way.”
The Tale of Princess Kaguya has been released, and people are saying that the two founders, now in their seventies, have directed their final films. But is it as clear-cut as that? When I ask Takahata about a scene of escape and urgency with a particularly distinctive (独特的) visual style, he says he had intended to use “this type of rough-drawn, forceful animation, in a project before this film.
“That project hasn’t been realized yet, but if it comes to pass, this style is essential.”
A hint, perhaps, there's still more to come.Which of the following choices has got the right match?
| ①Hayao Miyazaki |
a. one of the founders of Studio Ghibli |
| ② Isao Takahata |
b. fictional character |
| ③ Kazuo Oga |
c. famous artist |
| ④ Princess Kaguya |
d. animation staff member of The Tale of Princess Kaguya |
A.① d B. ② a C.③ b D.④ cWhy is it challenging to adapt the original story to a feature film according to the passage?
| A．Because people are in the dark about the feelings of Princess Kaguya. |
| B．Because the story itself offers a combination of wonder, humour and sorrow. |
| C．Because the story is too old to appeal to the audience nowadays. |
| D．Because every Japanese has been familiar with the story ever since childhood |
From the Takahata version of The Tale of Princess Kaguya, we can expect the following except ________.
| A．more details about the Princess’s origins and expectations |
| B．a forceful animation type featuring fine images and gentle brushwork |
| C．the distinctive brushwork and key designs from two gifted artists |
| D．a hand-drawn visual effect that brings out a unique sense of beauty |
This advertisement is mainly about_______.
| A．some unmissable films this winter |
| B．a way of booking film tickets |
| C．the company of Cineworld |
| D．a certain Clubcard |
Which of the following is true?
| A．This advertisement is probably taken from a magazine. |
| B．For every adult ticket you will have to pay £ 4.50 in cash. |
| C．You will receive two emails after you place your order using the basket. |
| D．Cineworld encourages viewers to be involved in its management for experience. |
An old man in a faded yellow shirt sat in a windowless room on a raised concrete form. The only source of heat came from somewhere beneath the plastic mattress and the rough blanket the blank-faced police woman had handed him after taking his thumb prints. He heard voices and metallic clang as the cell door swung open.
At the front desk a tired looking policeman handed the old man back his belongings, his worn-out cap and the Seiko watch that had stopped working the day his beloved Evelyn left. The policeman dramatically held the blue plastic bag at an arm’s length to the old man who took it and made sure its contents were undamaged: the goat meat, palm oil, leaves and spices. He ignored the confused expression on the officer’s face and signed the document declaring he had been returned the possessions they had taken off him the night before.
No one spoke to him as he walked slowly towards the exit.
“Mr. Easy-nwa?” He stopped and prayed to the God who now took care of Evelyn to please take him far away from this unhappy place of expressionless faces, clipped accents and people who did not even attempt to pronounce his name right.
“Ezenwa,” He said and looked at a woman with tangerine lips, her name tag said Jessica Harlow, Social Services. “A bit far from home，she said as she drove fast and with confidence the way Evelyn used to. He wondered if she meant the 50 miles from Liverpool or the 50,000 miles from Enugu，a city in Nigeria. He did not bother replying as this woman had plenty to say about the weather, bad drivers, her daughter’s school play...
At last she drew up outside the block of flats where he lived.
“Got here in the end”，said she seriously, “Really Mr. Easy-nwa, if you keep getting lost, we will have to consider moving you into a home”.
“No need, I was not lost，he answered. He carefully rolled up the sleeves of the oversize bomber jacket he wore and turned on the tap to wash his hands, relieved the pipes were not frozen. In a clean pan he placed the chopped pieces of goat meat. The herbs and spices that had taken him three months to track down, the uziza seeds had taken him into the heart of Granby Market in Liverpool, his uchanwu leaves down a shady back alley in Manchester, and yesterday, among other food items, the finest goat meat from a Sierra Leonean Butcher in Birmingham. That had taken some time, so much he missed the last train and when the police found him shivering outside the locked up station, so cold he couldn’t answer loudly enough the pink-faced big copper who yelled in his face, “What’s your name sir?” spraying his face with spittle (吐沫）as he did so, leaving them with no choice but to search an exhausted, frozen old black man and finding him in possession of mysterious condiments (调味品）including a bag of dried bitter-leaf which could of course be mistaken for anything that resulted in him getting read his rights and charged with ...possession???
He lifted the lid of the bubbling soup, the room was filled with the rich and spicy scent of his culinary (烹饪的）effort. He served two bowls, taking the chipped one and placing the other opposite where Evelyn would have sat. He would tell her about his adventure, it was their anniversary and this was the perfect pepper soup to celebrate.
Ken Onyia, UK (Nigeria) Commonwealth Sport Short Story PrizeWhy was Mr. Ezenwa taken to the prison for a night?
| A．He was too weak to move. |
| B．He couldn’t find his way back home. |
| C．He then had nowhere else to go. |
| D．He was suspected of possessing drugs. |
When Mr. Ezenwa was to leave the prison, •
| A．his thumb print was taken immediately |
| B．the policeman was confused about what he had |
| C．a social worker was assigned to drive him back home |
| D．the policeman was so kind as not to damage his belongings |
What did Mr. Ezenwa do for his wedding anniversary?
| A．He collected all sorts of valuables as presents. |
| B．He cooked native food as a surprise for his wife. |
| C．He prepared a special Nigerian pepper soup carefully. |
| D．He travelled a lot, attempting to get his wife back. |
What words can be used to describe Mr. Ezenwa?
| A．Hopeless and pessimistic.. |
| B．Mysterious and troublesome. |
| C．Affectionate and persistent. |
| D．Energetic and sympathetic. |
What theme does the author want to express through the story?
| A．Racial prejudice. |
| B．Hard life of the elderly. |
| C．Struggle for freedom. |
| D．Preservation of tradition. |