Therearemanyplacesaroundthecit-优题课

Just outside the northern Italian town of Bra, there rises a church tower with a clock that is a half hour slow. Though not far from the industrial city of Turin, Bra smells of roses, and leisure(悠闲) is the law. It is both the home of an international movement that promotes slow food and one of Italian cities that have joined the slow cities. In Bra, population 27,866, the town fathers have declared that all small food shops be closed every Thursday and Sunday. They forbid cars in the town square. All fruits and vegetables served in local schools must be organic(有机的). And as the movement goes well, the slow concept gradually spreads across Europe.
The argument for a Slow Europe is not only that it is good, but also that it can work. The Slow City Movement, which started in 1999, has improved local economies(经济) by promoting local goods and tourism. Young Italians are moving from larger cities to Bra, where unemployment is only 5 percent, about half the nationwide rate. Slow food and wine festivals draw thousands of tourists every year. Shops are doing well, many with sales rising at a rate of 15% per year. “This is our answer to the world.” says Paolo Samrnini, the founder of Slow Cities.
France is in favor of slow economics. Most outsiders have long been doubtful of the French model: short hours and long vacations. Yet the French are more productive than those in the United States and Britain, and have been for years.
The mystery of French productivity has risen an Europewide debate about the advantages of working more slowly.
The church clock that is a half hour slow severs as a symbol of ________.

A．industrial development	B．slow movement
C．global economy	D．city growth

The low unemployment in Bra proves that ________.

A．the population is not large

B．tourism brings great job chance

C．the Slow City Movement is successful

D．the slow concept works well only in its birth place

It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A．British workers work longer hours than the French

B．French workers work longer hours than the Italians

C．Italian workers are less productive than the Americans

D．American workers are more productive than the British

The increased French productivity tends to ________.

A．favor a fast life style

B．throw doubt on slow economics

C．encourage a slow economic growth

D．confirm advantages of slow economics

My wife passed away a few years ago,and I went through the worst time in my life.I even wanted to kill myself.Just for kids,I had to continue to live and work as small-town doctor at my medical clinic in Hawaii.My kids had gone to live on the mainland,and I was alone.Then they asked me to have a family trip.On our trip, we turned on the TV at the motel and saw the second plane crash into the World Trade Center. Seeing it falling down, I said to my kids: “I’m going to Afghanistan”. And a few weeks later, international Medical Corps sent me to set up 20 clinics in provinces where people had no health care. In these field clinics surrounded by frightening shoots or deadly bombs, we were eventually serving 27,000 patients a month in a very busy schedule. Tired and nervous, I gradually had a sense of achievement, a sense of purpose, and my depression went away.
In the years to follow, I went to Indonesia after the tsunami, Pakistan after the earthquakes, Sudan after the civil war and Iraq after more and more bombs. Each time after disasters one after another, hundreds of people were killed, wounded and many more had to flee. We once set up movable clinics in an area with 19,000 refugees, and it was supposed to hold 13,000 originally. Flu broke out, one of the biggest killers of kids in refugee camps, and it spread like wildfire. Water and food were also serious problems. “Adventures or not?” I often asked myself.
When my wife passed away, I thought my life was done. But in reality, it was just getting started. At the end of her life, she went unconscious. I held her head in my hands and told her of all the places we would visit and the exciting adventures we would have.
I think about the moment many times during my “adventures”. I didn’t know how predictive those words would be. But I know that she is still with me.
Where has the doctor been in the past few years?

A．Some countries where he could set up clinics.

B．Some African countries where flu broke out.

C．The places where the earthquakes happened.

D．The places that the horrible disasters struck.

How would the doctor describe his life after he had worked in Afghanistan?

A．Tired and troublesome.	B．Busy and risky.
C．Meaningful and helpful	D．Frightening and depressing.

The underlined word “refugees” means people_______________.

A．who are robbed, killed, or wounded

B．who suffer from flu in movable clinics

C．who like to take adventures

D．who have lost homes because of disasters.

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．the doctor’s wife encouraged him to work in foreign countries.

B．What the doctor said to his wife before her death became reality.

C．The doctor’s adventures made him understand the love of his wife.

D．With the true love of his wife, the doctor started to change his life.

Must-Read about Notting Hill Carnival(狂欢节)
Route
The carnival procession itself begins at 9am on both Sunday and Monday. It starts on Great Western Road, winding its way along Chepstow Road, then on to Westbourne Grove, and then down Ladbroke Grove.See our Notting Hill Carnival map for the full route.
Bus
While extra services will be in operation, no buses will enter the Carnival area from first thing Sunday morning until the first service on Tuesday morning. On both days bus services begin from Notting Hill Gate in the south and from Harrow Rd (close to Elgin Avenue) in the north.
Bike
Last year the nearest bike-parking stations – Chepstow Villas and Pembridge Road – were removed for Carnival, so don’t rely on being able to park your bike nearby this year.
Safety
Avoid carrying expensive items, such as jewellery and digital cameras. Take a bag with a secure zip to keep your more valuable possessions in and avoid putting your valuables in your back pocket.
Do tell police if you see an incident. Officers will be stationed throughout the Carnival area.Don’t try to walk against the flow of the crowd, as you won’t get far.Drink plenty of water on the day too, especially if the sun makes an appearance.
Children
Children’s Day on Sunday is recommended for families as the smaller crowds and kid-friendly floats(游行花车) create a fun atmosphere.Arrange meeting points in case you become separated.The smaller the buggy(婴儿车), the better. Ear defenders may be necessary for very young children.
Visitors are warned not to bike to the Carnival because _________.

A．there are an increasing number of bike thefts there

B．there are no bike-parking stations nearby

C．roads to the Carnival area are closed to bikes

D．they will be charged with extra parking fees

Visitors had better_________.

A．wear trousers without back pockets

B．bring plenty of beer with them

C．leave their valuables in the hotel

D．walk along the flow of the crowd

People who go to the carnival with children are advised_________.

A．to be there on Sunday

B．to let their children go wherever they like

C．to arrange a meeting time

D．to bring ear defenders for each child.

A few days ago we – that’s me and the husband – took a cab to the station. Chat with the driver fell to the wrong of cyclists, and the misunderstanding of the road rules. So far as the rules of the road go, there seems to be one basic principle: when you are driving a car you hate bikes, when you are riding a bike you hate cars (and I guess walkers hate everyone).
There is an obvious difference of viewpoint built in here. It wasn’t until I started to drive a car (almost 20years after I had first rode a bike) that I actually realized that you could not see a cyclist at night without lights. In fact I now want to shout at late night cyclists without lights(like motortists once did at me): “You’ll get killed, sunshine, I can’t see you.”
The problem is that cyclists do ride headlong into danger. It's not just not having lights. It’s biking on pavements (and so threatening to injure a load of innocent walkers in the process) and biking down one-way streets the wrong way.
I admit that I do bike the wrong way down a one-way street sometimes. My feeble(软弱无力) defense is that I try always to do it as if I know I was doing wrong. That is slowly, with an apologetic look on the face, and ready to get off at any minute. I can’t bear the guys(一伙人) (usually, but not always it is guys) who do it as if they owned the place, and at high speed.
So cyclists are not entirely innocent. But they are among the disadvantaged groups, because the bottom line is that a car or a lorry can kill a cyclist and not the other way around.
When did the writer realize the danger for late night cyclists without lights?

A．Not until she became a driver herself.

B．Not until she had driven a car for 20 years.

C．After she was shouted at by a motorist.

D．After she was once knocked down by a group of guys.

When the writer biked the wrong way down a one way street, she felt_________.

A．angry

B．guilty

C．innocent

D．proud

Which group is most likely to face danger according to the writer?

A．walkers

B．passers-by

C．cyclists

D．motorists

What can we learn about the writer?

A．She often took a cab with her husband.

B．She has been a motorist for over 20 years.

C．She used to ride a bike without lights at night.

D．She often biked the wrong way down a one way street.

A research found that people shown silent videos of piano competitions could pick out the winners more often than those who could also hear the music. It underlines the importance of our sense of vision, say scientists. Their study concludes that the best predictor of a winner’s musical performance was the visible passion they displayed, followed closely by their uniqueness and creativity.
Chia-Jung Tsay, from University College London, UK, is the study’s author and herself a concert pianist. She was interested in how music was judged and found that even professional musicians were unaware of how much they were using visual information over sound. “For the last two decades, I’ve taken part in various competitions. Through this experience, I found that depending on what type of evaluations were used,the results might vary widely. This led me to wonder about how much visual information really affects these important decisions,” she explained.
More than 1,000 participants in the study were given samples of either audio, silent video or video with sound, and asked to rate the top three finalists from 10 international classical music competitions. The actual competition winners were only correctly identified by those who were randomly assigned(分配) the silent videos.
Dr Tasy said the findings were quite surprising, especially because both trained musicians and those without training had stated that sound was most important for their evaluation. “Regardless of levels of expertise, we still seem to be led primarily by visual information, even in this field of music,” she said. “Classical music training is often focused on improving the quality of the sound, but this research is about getting to the bottom of what is really being evaluated at the highest levels of competitive performance. She added, “We must be more mindful of our inclination(倾向) to depend on visual information at the expense of the content that we actually value as more relevant to our decisions.”
According to the study, who would most probably win a piano competition?

A．One who plays with great passion.

B．One who plays unique music.

C．One who plays creatively.

D．One who has a sense of vision.

The participates in the study were asked to__________.

A．watch classical music competitions

B．assign the silent videos

C．pick out the best three competitors

D．decide who the winner is

What probably led Dr Tsay to carry out the study?

A．Her love for music.

B．Her desire to explore.

C．Her experience as a competitor.

D．Her curiosity in musical education.

Where does this text probably come from?

A．A text book.	B．A sports magazine.
C．A story book.	D．A science website.