Saturday,March24thWehavearrive-优题课

A Book Review—The Snake-Stone by Berlie Doherty
The setting: Urban England (the cities), but also rural England (the countryside) including remote English villages．
The theme: The main theme is a teenage research of self-discovery, in this case the search for a mother from whom the hero was separated at an early age．Its other concerns are love, getting on with others, being persistent and courageous and trying to deal with doubts, troubles and worries．As the book moves to a close, James’ swimming coach says to him: “You are not like a kid obeying instructions any more．You are diving like a young man who knows where he is going．”
The characters: James is the hero of the story．He is a championship diver, and has a comfortable life with his foster parents (养父母)．Yet he also has the qualities to take him on a long journey to find his birth mother．The other characters in The Snake-Stone, James’ parents, his diving instructor, best friend, the villagers, people he meets on his journey, are pictured realistically．
The turning point: The turning point in the story comes while James’ foster parents are away in London, and he wonders about the identity of his birth mother．The only clue he has is a fossil, “the snake stone” which she left behind along with a note on which she had written: “Take good care of Sammie．It was written on a torn envelope with parts of an address still there．
The journey: Instead of going to London, James decides to find his birth mother．With help from his geography teacher, James sets out for the remote country village where his mother might be found．James has painful, challenging, but also humorous and happy travels．The mother he finally meets, Anne, has a minor yet powerful voice in the novel．He comes to understand why she left him at a stranger’s door fifteen years before．Although the meeting is not long, it leaves him with a feeling of completeness．As a journey of self-discovery The Snake-Stone also provides its readers with a happy ending．Its hero says, on returning to his foster parents, “I was home．”
What is the main theme of the novel?

A．A journey of self-discovery．

B．Life in the world of diving．

C．Life with foster parents．

D．A travel around the country．

What do the coach’s words in Paragraph 2 suggest?

A．James is a successful diver．

B．James is an independent young man．

C．James is an outgoing young man．

D．James is a hopeful swimmer．

The snake stone in the novel is ．

A．a stone with an address on it

B．a gift from the swimming coach

C．a clue left by the birth mother

D．a fossil left by the foster parents

Which of the following is true about the novel?

A．The story has a sad ending．

B．The story takes place in the city of London．

C．The characters are vividly described．

D．The turning point comes after the hero meets his birth mother．

It can be concluded that James’ journey is _________．

A．disappointing

B．boring

C．comfortable

D．worthwhile

The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place．Now it is an ecological disaster area．Nauru’s heartbreaking story could have one good consequence — other countries might learn from its mistakes．
For thousands of years, Polynesian people lived in the remote island of Nauru, far from western civilization．The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798．He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship．He called the island Pleasant Island．
However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first．The whaling ships and other traders began to visit, bringing guns and alcohol．These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island．A ten-year civil war started, which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900．
Nauru’s real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate (磷酸盐)on the island．In fact, it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate, which was a very important fertilizer for farming．The company began mining the phosphate．
A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground; it is a strip mine．When a company strip-mines, it removes the top layer of soil．Then it takes away the material it wants．Strip mining totally destroys the land．Gradually, the lovely island of Nauru started to look like the moon．
In 1968, Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world．Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate．
Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars．In addition, they used millions more dollars for personal expenses．Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem — their phosphate was running out．Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing．By 2000, Nauru was financially ruined．Experts say that it would take approximately $433,600,000 and more than 20 years to repair the island．This will probably never happen．
What might be the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To seek help for Nauru’s problems．

B．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war．

C．To show the importance of money

D．To give a warning to other countries

What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?

A．Rich and powerful	B．Peaceful and attractive
C．Modern and open	D．Greedy and aggressive

The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from _______．
A．phosphate overmining B soil pollution
C．farming activity D．whale hunting
Which of the following was a cause of Nauru’s financial problem?

A．Its phosphate mining cost much money

B．It spent too much repairing the island

C．Its leaders misused the money

D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war．

What can we learn about Nauru from the last paragraph?

A．The ecological damage is difficult to repair．

B．The leaders will take the experts’ words seriously．

C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans

D．The phosphate mines were destroyed

Barditch High School decided to hold an All-School Reunion．Over 450 people came to the event．There were tours of the old school building and a picnic at Confederate Park．Several former teachers were on hands to tell stories about the old days．Ms．Mabel Yates, the English teacher for fifty years, was wheeled to the Park．
Some eyes rolled and there were a few low groans(嘟囔声)when Ms．Yates was about to speak．Many started looking at their watches and coming up with excuses to be anywhere instead of preparing to listen to a lecture from an old woman who had few kind words for her students and made them work harder than all the other teachers combined．
Then Ms．Yates started to speak:
“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to be here．I haven’t seen many of you since your graduation, but I have followed your careers and enjoyed your victories as well as crying for your tragedies．I have a large collection of newspaper photographs of my students．Although I haven’t appeared in person, I have attended your college graduations, weddings and even the birth of your children, in my imagination．”
Ms．Yates paused and started crying a bit．Then she continued:
“It was my belief that if I pushed you as hard as I could, some of you would succeed to please me and others would succeed to annoy me．Regardless of our motives, I can see that you have all been successful in you chosen path．”
“There is no greater comfort for an educator than to see the end result of his or her years of work．You have all been a great source of pleasure and pride for me and I want you to know I love you all from the bottom of my heart．”
There was a silence over the crowd for a few seconds and then someone started clapping．The clapping turned into cheering, then into a deafening roar(呼喊)．Lawyers, truck drivers, bankers and models were rubbing their eyes or crying openly with no shame all because of the words from a long forgotten English teacher from their hometown．
What activity was organized for the school reunion?

A．Telling stories about past events．

B．A picnic on the school playground．

C．Sightseeing in the park．

D．Graduates’ reports in the old building．

What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

A．Some graduates were too busy to listen to Ms．Yates’ speech．

B．Some people got tired from the reunion activities．

C．Many graduates disliked Ms．Yates’ ways of teaching．

D．Most people had little interest in the reunion．

We can learn from Ms．Yates’ speech that she _____________．

A．attended her students’ college graduations

B．gave her students advice on their careers

C．kept track of her students’ progress

D．went to her students’ wedding ceremonies

What was Ms．Yates’ belief in teaching teenagers?

A．Hard-pushed students are more likely to succeed．

B．Pressure on students from teachers should be reduced．

C．Teachers’ knowledge is the key to students’achievements．

D．Students’ respect is the best reward for teachers．

Which of the following can best describe Ms．Yates?__________．

A．Reliable and devoted．

B．Strict but caring．

C．Proud but patient．

D．Tough and generous．

A. An Acrobatic (杂技) Soul
To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe will present "The Soul of China", where the seemingly impossible is made real. Chills will run down your spine as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge.
Time: 7:30pm, September 13-19
Place: the Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujingdajie Street, Dongcheng District
B. Exhibitions Joint Show
A group ink painting exhibition is running at the ltuangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing. About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display.
Time: 9am-5pm until September 10
Place: Huangshicheng Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Road, Dongcheng District
C. Oil Paintings
The Wanfang Art Galley will host a joint show of oil paintings by 10 young and middle-aged artists. On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture the wonderful variety of life in unique styles.
Time: 9am-4pm until September 15
Place: 136 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District
D. Literature Museum
The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers a study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949.
Time: 9am-4pm, daily
Place: 45 Anyuandonglu Road, Chaoyang District (Shaoyaoju area)
E. Concerts
Beijing rocks: "The Fashion Night of Chinese Rock" is set to bring rock fans out next month. Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. Audiences will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a crowd.
Time: September 16
Place: The Olympic Center
F. Belgium Orchestra
La Petite Band, the Baroque Orchestra of Belgium, will perform in Beijing at Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world to commemorate(纪念) the 250th anniversary of Bach's death.
Time: 7:30pm, September 11-14
Place: Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities
阅读下面待选人的信息，然后匹配他／她所选的活动：
Wang Lin: Wang Lin is a university student who studies music. He hopes to hear some live examples of foreign music from a western band.
Simon: Simon is interested in Chinese literature, so he came to China with his parents. During his stay in Beijing, he wants to learn more about Chinese contemporary Literature.
Li Hua: Li Hua is an eighteen-year-old boy. He is studying in a high school. After many months of hard studying, he is tired of his lessons. He would like to experience something adventurous.
Alice: Alice is an American girl who studies art at Beijing University. She has no classes on September 14. She hopes to enjoy some wonderful oil paintings.
Victoria: Victoria is fond of Chinese music. She hopes to listen to various songs performed by different bands. She doesn't care what kinds of songs they are.

The 2012 London Olympics had enough problems to worry about. But one more has just been added -- a communications blackout caused by solar storms.
　　After a period of calm within the Sun, scientists have detected the signs of a flesh cycle of sunspots that could peak in 2012, just in time for the arrival of the Olympic torch in London.
　　Now scientists believe that this peak could result in vast solar explosions that could throw billions of tons of charged matter towards the Earth, causing strong solar storms that could jam the telecommunications satellites and interact links sending five Olympic broadcast from London.
　　"The Sun's activity has a strong influence on the Earth. The Olympics could be in the middle of the next solar maximum which could affect the functions of communications satellites," said Professor Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
　　At the peak of the cycle, violent outbursts called coronal mass ejections (日冕物质抛射) occur in the Sun's atmosphere, throwing out great quantities of electrically-charged matter. "A coronal mass ejection can carry a billion tons of solar material into space at over a million kilometres per hour. Such events can expose astronauts to a deadly amount, can disable satellites, cause power failures on Earth and disturb communications," Professor Harrison added. The risk is the greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots.
　　Next week in America, NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite for monitoring solar activity called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which will take images of the Sun that are 10 times clearer than the most advanced televisions available.
　　The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory helped to make the high-tech cameras that will capture images of the solar flares (太阳耀斑) and explosions as they occur.
　　Professor Richard Harrison, the lab's director, said that the SDO should be able to provide early warning of a solar flare or explosion big enough to affect satellite communications on Earth "If we have advanced warning, we'll be able to reduce the damage. What you don't want is things switching off for a week with no idea of what's caused the problem," he said.
The phrase "communications blackout" in paragraph 1 most probably refers to____________ during the 2012 Olympics.

A．the extinguishing of the Olympic torch

B．the collapse of broadcasting systems

C．the transportation breakdown in London

D．the destruction of weather satellites

According to the passage, scientists are convinced that __________.

A．the sun’s activities have little to do with the earth

B．the London Olympic broadcasting will be possibly influenced by the 2012 peak of sunspots

C．the 2012 Olympic Games are during the solar maximum of throwing out greatest number of sunspots

D．solar explosion will cause strong storms on the earth

What can be inferred about the solar activity described in the passage?

A．The most fatal matter from the corona falls onto Earth.

B．The solar storm peak occurs in the middle of each cycle.

C．It takes several seconds for the charged matter to reach Earth.

D．The number of sunspots declines after coronal mass ejections.

According to the passage, NASA will launch a satellite to _________.

A．take images of the solar system

B．provide early warning of thunderstorms

C．keep track of solar activities

D．improve the communications on Earth

Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A．Solar Storms: An Invisible Killer

B．Solar Storms: Earth Environment in Danger

C．Solar Storms: Threatening the Human Race

D．Solar Storms: Human Activities to Be Troubled

A．often feel hungry	B．can’t take any photos
C．can have a good time	D．feel a little bored

A．are friendly to others	B．like to speak English
C．hope to live in the cities	D．live a very busy life

A．My First Travel	B．The Outside World
C．Traveling in Thailand	D．My Trip to Chiang Mai