HK's family affair
The 32nd Hong Kong Art Festival, to be held early next year, will be based on the theme of “family”.
The art festival, considered to be Asia's best, was launched in 1973.
“We hope that people from Beijing and from all over the world will go to Hong Kong to enjoy the multiple performances in our art festival,” Douglas Gautier, the festival's management director, told a press briefing in the capital.
In the 34 days of the festival, which runs from February 8 to March 7, 2004, the audience can choose from 111 performances of 51 programmes staged by 700 foreign performers, 450 local artists and 160 actors from the mainland.
Programmes vary from classical music, jazz, world music, Western and Peking opera, drama and dance to outdoor spectaculars.
The programmes include Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio, Shakespeare’s drama Romeo and Juliet, the ballet Mozartina and African dances, to name just a few.
The lineup (阵容) includes the English Touring Theatre, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Ballet, the Spanish National Dance Troupe, as well as Europe Galante, the Petersen Quartet, pianists Angela Hewitt, and arc-Andre Hamelin, and saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
In an effort to increase attention, hotels and airlines are offering discount packages along with art festival ticket sales.
For more information, please check www.hk.artsfestival.org.The press briefing must have been held ______.
| A．in Hong Kong | B．in Europe | C．in Beijing | D．in Zurich |
By means of "discount packages", you can pay ______.
| A．more than the usual cost |
| B．less than the usual cost |
| C．for the air ticket but not for the festival ticket |
| D．for the ticket but not for hotel rooms |
We do NOT have any information about ______.
| A．what programmes there will be |
| B．in which theatres there will be performances |
| C．who will perform |
| D．when the festival will be held |
Where is this material from?
| A．Literature Magazine | B．Textbook |
| C．Website www.hk.artsfestival.org. | D．Newspaper |
Volunteer Day schedule:
7:30 a.m.: Meet at the Community Center for breakfast.
8-8:30 a.m.: Visit with people from the many participating organizations. Choose which activity you’d like to help with for the day.
8:30-9 a.m.: Board the bus for your chosen activity, and ride with other volunteers to your activity site.
9-12:00 a.m.: Work as a volunteer.
12:00 a.m.-1 p.m.: Share lunch with your volunteer group. Don’t forget to bring food for lunch from home!
1-3:30 p.m.: Continue your volunteer work.
3:30 p.m.: Board the bus that will take you back to the Community Center, where you will be able to talk with other volunteers and share your experiences.
See below for a list of volunteer opportunities for Volunteer Day so you can begin thinking about which activity you might want to join.
Happy Homes: it provides home repairs for needy people in the form of painting. It also provides painters to create beautiful paintings inside schools of community centers.
Elder Care: Elder Care sends volunteers into nursing homes to spend time with them, play board games with them, and talk with them.
City Parks Association: you can help plant flowers and bushes in city parks or pick up trash around the river banks. These activities are very active, so remember to be prepared with plenty of drinking water!
Love and Learning: it provides volunteers to help children with learning disabilities. Read books out loud to groups of children aged four to six, or read one-on-one with struggling readers aged seven to eight. According to the schedule, how long will a volunteer work a day?
| A．3 hours | B．5.5 hours |
| C．7.5 hours. | D．8 hours. |
To join Happy Homes, one should _____.
| A．be very good at art. |
| B．enjoying talking with people. |
| C．be able to play board games. |
| D．like working with young children. |
For volunteers who enjoy being outside in nature, they can join _____.
| A．Elder Care | B．Happy Homes |
| C．Love and Learning | D．City parks Association |
You may think that an underground town of 3,500 people is something out of a science-fiction film. You may not believe that such a town has shops car parks, hotels, restaurants, cafes and much more. Well, Coober Pedy in Australia is just such a place.
Miners and their families choose to live like this, hoping to get rich looking for the precious stones that Australia is famous for --- opals(蛋白石). Living underground is the only way to be away from the sandstorms and the high temperatures above ground. Deep down in the town far below the desert surface, the temperature is between 19℃ and 20℃ and life is cool.
Mary Deane and her husband Jim are among the lucky ones. They live in a home, built with money from the opals Jim has found. “Whenever people hear we live underground, they always imagine a dusty cave,” says Mary, “but they are amazed at my clean kitchen, our furniture and electrical appliances in here.”
However, not everything is perfect in Coober Pedy. Mary has a tiny garden that she is very proud of, but the grass is not real. Plant life is rare. Water is five times more expensive underground than it is overground. Recycling is a way of life, so Jim usually washes his car with bath water and they have a special system to reuse the water from the dishwasher and washing machine.
Even so, most families enjoy life in Coober Pedy. The children can make as much noise as they want and there are no complaints from the neighbors because the thick walls stop sounds from traveling. Adults enjoy the peace and quiet away from the world above.People in Coober Pedy live underground______.
| A．because of their secret identities |
| B．because it is warmer underground |
| C．so that they can save some money |
| D．due to the terrible natural environment. |
Which word can best describe Mary’s life underground according to Paragraph 3?
| A．Comfortable. | B．Exciting. | C．Healthy. | D．Lonely. |
Which is the biggest problem people in Coober Pedy have to face?
| A．High living expenses. |
| B．The awfully dusty environment. |
| C．Shortage of water and greenery. |
| D．The extremely high temperatures |
Children enjoy the life in Coober Pedy mainly because they _____.
| A．enjoy traveling around with their parents |
| B．can get many expensive toys from their parents |
| C．enjoy the peace and quiet while doing their homework |
| D．can enjoy themselves without disturbing their neighbors[ |
The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is: Great talent is not enough.
I am constantly shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of Americans earn more than $100, 000 a year. A business consultant who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors and dentists struggle financially. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase, “They are one skill away from great wealth.”
There is an old saying that goes, “Job means just over broke (破产)' ”. And unfortunately, I would say that the saying applies to millions of people. Because school does not think financial intelligence is intelligence, most workers “live within their means”. They work and they pay the bills. Instead I recommend to young people to seek work for what they will learn, more than what they will earn.
When I ask the classes I teach, “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s?” almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious: McDonald’s is excellent at business systems. The reason so many talented people are poor is because they focus on bui1ding a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. They focus on perfecting their skills at building a better hamburger rather than the skills of selling and delivering the hamburger.The author mentions the mechanic in the first paragraph to show that __________.
| A．he has a sharp sense of hearing |
| B．he is ready to help others |
| C．he is just one of the talented people |
| D．he knows little about car repairing |
The underlined part in the third paragraph can be best replaced by__________.
| A．spend more than they can afford |
| B．live within what they earn |
| C．live in their own circle |
| D．do in their own way |
Why do talented people earn so little according to the author?
| A．They don't work hard enough. |
| B．They have no specialized skills. |
| C．They don't make full use of their talents. |
| D．They lack financial intelligence. |
The main purpose of the author is to tell us___________.
| A．why so many talented people are poor |
| B．what schools should teach students |
| C．how young people can find a satisfactory job |
| D．how McDonald's makes much money |
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Where: Becket, Massachusetts
When: Jun.15---Aug.24
Each summer, this influential dance center presents a number of classes and performances by more than 50 companies from around the world. Highlights in this season include the Dance Theater of Harlem’s production of Alvin Ailey’s “The Lark Ascending”, which opens the festival.
Many events are free. Ticketed performances start at $22. Jacobspillow.org.
Moab Music Festival
Where: Moab, Utah
When: Aug.29---Sept.9
This area is better known for mountain biking than for music . But since 1992, it has hosted a private festival that brings classical, jazz, Latin and other types of music to the land. This year there will be 16 concerts, including three “Grotto Concerts”, where guests take a 45-minute boat ride down the Colorado River to performances.
Events start at $25. Moabmusicfest.org.
Cheyenne Frontier Days
Where: Cheyenne, Wyoming
When: July19---28
There is something for everyone at this 117-year-old festival, from an “Indian village” and Old West museum to country concerts. But the competition is still the main attraction, with cowboys and cowgirls competing for major money in the world’s largest outdoor stage.
Competition tickets start at $18, and concert tickets at $23. Cfdrodeo.com.
The Glimmerglass Festival
Where: Cooperstown, New York
When: July6---Aug.24
Each summer, opera lovers from around the country (and the world) travel to upstate New York to watch productions that include stars like Nathan Gunn and Ginger Costa-Jackson. This year’s performances include Wagner’s “The Flying Dutchman” and Verdi’s “King for a Day”, in honor of the 200th birthdays of both composers.
Tickets start at $26. Glimmerglass.org.If you want to enjoy a “Grotto Concert”, which date suits you best?
| A．September 4. | B．July 19. |
| C．August 24. | D．June 15. |
If you go to Cheyenne to watch a competition and enjoy a concert, how much will you pay at least?
| A．$18. | B．$41. | C．$360 | D．$22. |
If you are a big fan of Wagner, you’re advised to go to ____________.
| A．Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival |
| B．Moab Music Festival |
| C．Cheyenne Frontier Days |
| D．The Glimmerglass Festival |
Which part of a website is the text probably chosen from?
| A．Education. | B．Literature. |
| C．Business. | D．Art. |
English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the world’s books and three quarters of international mail are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary — perhaps as many as two million words.
However, let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweetmeats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.
We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them.
And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth? One goose, two geese — so one moose, two meese?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of human beings. That’s why, when stars are out, they are visible; but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.According to the passage __________.
| A．pineapples are the apples on the pine tree |
| B．there should be an egg in an eggplant |
| C．sweetmeats and sweetbreads are different things |
| D．boxing rings should be round |
The underlined words “wind up” in the last paragraph maybe means “__________”.
| A．blow | B．finish | C．get hurt | D．roll up |
Through the many paradoxes in the English language, the writer wants to show that human beings are ____________.
| A．lazy | B．crazy | C．clever | D．dull |