Thousands of years ago, birthdays were considered special days. On birthdays, the bad spirits were able to harm you and change your life. It was believed that the only way to solve the problem was to have your friends and family around you, so that good wishes and presents would keep the bad spirits away. Also, noisemakers were thought to be used at parties as a way of scaring away the evil spirits.
The custom of lighting candles was created by people believing that the gods lived in the sky. By lighting candles and torches, they were sending a signal or prayer to the gods, so they could be answered. Blowing out the candles and making a wish were thought to be another way of sending a signal or a message.
This is how the way we celebrate our birthdays came about. But different cultures celebrate in different ways.
The birthday story in the Bible（圣经） that we know best is about the birth of the Christ in Bethlehem（地名：伯利恒）. For nearly 2000 years since that day, the Christian world has been honoring this birth. The day many Englishmen celebrate is, of course, Christmas. There are other references to birthday parties. King Pharaoh celebrated his birthday by making a feast for his court followers. That was over 4000 years ago. The story of King Herod tells that on his birthday he made a supper for his lords, high captains and other special friends in Galilee (地名：加利利).According to the passage, good wishes and presents given by one’s friends and family on his birthday can _____________________.
| A．cheer him up |
| B．push bad spirits away |
| C．bring him a big fortune |
| D．prove that he’s a popular person |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．People send messages to the gods by lighting or blowing out the candles. |
| B．The gods celebrate their birthdays by lighting candles. |
| C．The custom of lighting candles originated with the gods. |
| D．The gods will help people realize their dreams on their birthdays. |
The two ancient kings’ ways of celebrating their birthdays show__________________.
| A．how great the two kings were |
| B．that their court followers were awarded the special honors |
| C．the two kings’ excellent cooking skills |
| D．how different cultures celebrate in different ways |
The passage is mainly about __________________.
| A．the functions of the noises made on birthdays. |
| B．how to scare away the bad spirits on birthdays |
| C．how birthdays came about |
| D．the origin of a famous day Christmas |
Have you ever had that fantasy to visit the moon, grab a rock and throw it into space so it would float forever? Soon, if you have got the cash, you can!
Enter the Artemis Project. This new and exciting project is a private one that will “establish a permanent, self-supporting manned lunar base,” which translates into a community on the moon for people to live in. “It’s not a question of whether it’ll work, but rather how long it will take.” according to Gregory Bennett, the founder of the Artemis Project
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. That moment became a great achievement in both the space community and for humanity itself. Despite the significance of occasion, almost certainly when viewers saw images of his weightless, bouncing (弹跳) figure they thought, “That looks like fun!”
So the Artemis team is taking realistic approach to a human fantasy: they are marketing the project of a lunar base as pure entertainment.
Veronis, Suhler & Associates are investment bankers for the communications and media industry. Their research found that Americans spent over 40 billion dollars to be entertained in the movies, through home videos and television in 1999.
California investor, Dennis Tito, recently took a trip to the International Space Station, after donating $20 million dollars to the Russian Space program. Wealthy celebrities like Canadian director James Cameron and the brothers of rock band Oasis have also voiced their interest to visit the big ball in the sky. In the same report by Veronis, Suhler & Associates, consumers spent close to 4 billion dollars on video-game software alone. So, for $1.42 billion dollars the Artemis Project is a drop in the entertainment bucket.
University student, Al Dharsee says, “I would certainly go to the moon, if given the opportunity, so that I could look at the earth and laugh. But with the way we treat our own planet, I don’t think we deserve to set foot on any planets or moons for that matter.
However, if you’re one of those ready to book a flight, don’t pack your bags quite yet, your flight is not scheduled to depart for at least a couple of decades.What is the Artemis Project aimed at?
| A．Maintaining a manned lunar base. |
| B．Providing a new kind of entertainment. |
| C．Offering some community-based facilities. |
| D．Finding facts about the first exploration to the moon. |
What did Veronis, Suhler& Associates find through their research?
| A．Wealthy celebrities donated a lot of space programs. |
| B．The Artemis Project would cost less than $1.42 billion dollars. |
| C．Americans paid a large amount of money for entertainment. |
| D．More than $40 billion are spent on communications and media industries in 1999. |
What does Al DHarsee imply?
| A．Most planets deserve to be employed. |
| B．Human beings may destroy the moon. |
| C．It costs too much to destroy the environment. |
| D．The trip to the moon doesn’t appeal to him. |
This text may be taken from .
| A．a fiction story. |
| B．an advertisement. |
| C．an entertainment report. |
| D．a business survey. |
Without any previous notice, a documentary dominated headlines and social websites over the weekend. Under the Dome, a 103-minute documentary self-funded by former CCTV news anchor Chai Jing was released on video-sharing websites in China on Feb 28. It has rapidly pushed the public awareness about air pollution and encouraged people to join in efforts to make a difference.
Chai, 39, said she started the work out of her “personal clashes” with smog after she gave birth to a daughter. “I sealed tight all the windows. I started every day by checking the air pollution index,” Chai said. Millions of other people are also doing the same. While they stop there, Chai goes deeper. “I don’t want to live in this way. 1 need to find out where the smog comes from and what on earth is going on.”
Over a year, she investigated polluted sites to find the sources of smog, visited the US and the UK to learn about their anti-pollution experiences, and interviewed officials, scientists and the general public. Chai’s research reveals that the burning of coal and oil contributes to 60 percent of PM2.5 pollutants. She thus questions the country’s energy consumption habits in the film.
She then goes on to disclose loopholes (漏洞) in car emissions regulations. The film also explains that businesses are pressured not to abide by(遵守) the laws because violating(违反) them carries little or no cost, while making changes bumps up costs. The film also points at China’s petroleum and steel industries as the biggest sources of air pollution.
Cheng Chen, a 22-year-old student from Beijing Foreign Studies University, found the documentary “very inspiring”. “I used to think it’s not my duty to deal with air pollution—I don’t own a factory or a car,” said Cheng. “But Chai told me we share the same fate since we breathe the same air and there is a lot I can do.”
However, some people are annoyed by the film’s description of their polluted hometowns, especially when it shows a banner from Xingtai in Hebei saying “Congratulations to our city for no longer being ranked the last place among the country’s 74 cities in terms of air quality”.
Such a feeling of “being insulted”, in Cheng’s eyes, could also be a good thing. “What’s important is that Chai’s work has raised public attention toward the structure of the energy industry,” she said. Meanwhile, experts remind moved viewers of the film’s limitations.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?
| A．The documentary was made by Chai jing , who works in CCTV now. |
| B．The documentary dominated headlines and social websites soon after it was broadcast on TV. |
| C．Chai started making the documentary after she gave birth to a daughter. |
| D．Chai thinks that it is the burning of coal and oil that leads to air pollution in china. |
Why Chai jing decided to make the film at first ?
| A．She wanted to do something for her daughter |
| B．She wanted to disclose loopholes in car emissions regulations. |
| C．She wanted to make money |
| D．She wanted to raise public attention toward the structure of the energy industry |
what’s the author’s attitude towards the film?
| A．positive | B．objective |
| C．negative | D．indifferent |
What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence?
| A．Some people deserve to be insulted. |
| B．The feeling of “being insulted” can help draw attention to air pollution. |
| C．Insulting people is good for protecting environment. |
| D．No longer being ranked the last place is not a bad thing. |
The character “duang” is so new that it does not even exist in the Chinese dictionary. But it has already spread like wildfire online in China, appearing more than 8 million times on China’s micro-blogging site Weibo, where it spawned a top-trending hashtag(标签) that drew 312,000 discussions among 15,000 users. On China’s biggest online search engine Baidu, it has been looked up almost 600,000 times. It’s been noticed in the West too, with Foreign Policy seeing it as a “break the internet” viral meme － like a certain Kirn Kardashian image, or a certain multicoloured dress.
But what does it mean? “Everyone’s duang-ing and I still don’t know what it means! As if it’s back to school for me,” said Weibo user Weileiweito. Another user asked: “Have you duang-ed today? My mind is full of duang duang duang.” “To duang or not to duang, that is the question,” wrote user BaiKut automan.
“Duang” seems to be an example of onomatopoeia(拟声词), a word that phonetically imitates a sound. It all seems to have started with Hong Kong action star Jackie Chan, who in 2004 was featured in a shampoo commercial where he said famously defended his sleek, black hair using the rhythmical-sounding “duang”. The word resurfaced again recently after Chan posted it on his Weibo page. Thousands of users then began to flood Chan’s Weibo page with comments, coining the word in reference to his infamous shampoo appearance.
The word appears to have many different meanings, and there’s no perfect translation, but you could use it as an adjective to give emphasis to the word that follows it. A kitten might be “duang cute”, for example. Or you might be “very duang confused” by this blog.
For readers of Chinese characters, the Jackie Chan theme is also apparent from the quirky(古怪的) way in which the word is written: a combination of Chan’s Mandarin names.How does the writer try to prove that Duang has already spread like wildfire online in China?
| A．giving examples | B．listing numbers |
| C．making comparisons | D．offering quotations |
Why does the author mention “a certain Kirn Kardashian image”?
| A．to tell us “Duang” also draws attention in the West. |
| B．to tell us “Duang” is just like a certain image on a certain multicolored dress. |
| C．to tell us Foreign Policy doesn’t like “Duang”. |
| D．to tell us a certain Kim Kardashian image breaks the internet. |
Which of the following statements about “duang is NOT true?
| A．It came from Jackie chan’s commertial. |
| B．Weibo users created the word about his infamous shampoo appearance. |
| C．It was first used as an adjective to stress the word that follows it. |
| D．Many people are confused by the word. |
What kind of people may not know the word “duang”?
| A．the old who are over sixties |
| B．the young who are in fashion |
| C．a boy who has dropped out of school |
| D．a woman who never surfs the internet |
The secret of carrier pigeons' unbelievable ability to find their way home has been discovered by scientists: the feathered navigators follow the roads just like we do.
Scientists at Oxford University spent 10 years studying homing pigeons using global positioning satellite (GPS) and got a surprising result. The birds often don't use the sun to decide their directions. Instead, they fly along motorways, turn at crossings and even go around roundabouts (绕道) , adding miles to their journeys.
“It really has knocked our research team sideways to find that after a decade-long international study, pigeons appear to ignore their inbuilt directional instincts (本能) and follow the road system,” said Prof Tim Guilford, reader in animal behavior at Oxford University's Department of Zoology.
Guilford said pigeons use their own navigational system (导航系统) when doing long distance trips or when a bird does a journey for the first time.
“But once homing pigeons have flown a journey more than once, they can fly home on a habitual route, much as we do when we are driving or walking home from work,” said Guilford.
“In short, it looks like it is mentally easier for a bird to fly down a road. They are just making their journeys as simple as possible.” What would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Birds Follow Roads as We Do. |
| B．Why Pigeons Can Fly Long Distance? |
| C．How Pigeons Find Their Ways Home? |
| D．Why Crows Fly the Shortest Distance? |
What does the underlined words "the feathered navigators" refer to?
| A．The pigeons. |
| B．The crows. |
| C．Dogs. |
| D．Animals that can swim. |
Scientists used to think that homing pigeons often find their directions _______.
| A．by global positioning satellite |
| B．by the sun |
| C．by the road system |
| D．by following other birds |
Volunteers Wanted
Ecuador
A village in Ecuador has recently developed a ecotourism (生态旅游) project that needs volunteers with a background in tourism. This is an unpaid, challenging job that might last one year. You must be enthusiastic and speak good level of Spanish. You will need to cover your food and lodging on your own.
To find out more information, e-mail volunteer@ ecuador.org.
Bali
Would you like to teach English or computer skills to our local school children in a lovely village in the mountains of Bali? There are also western children homeschooling here, some of whom need help with their daily programs. For volunteers of homeschooling, you are required to have baby-sitter experience. Please contact me for more information at Bali@yahoo.com.
Dominica
Experience nature and adventure in Dominica, the island of the Caribbean. Be part of a happy team, doing things from gardening, to building tree houses, to maintaining hydro systems.
For more information please e-mail info@Dominica.com.A college graduate who speaks good Spanish and is interested in ecotourism had better work in ______.
| A．an island of Dominica | B．a village in Ecuador |
| C．the mountains of Bali | D．a house in Caribbean |
One who wants to teach small children English will contact ______.
| A．volunteer@org | B．info@Dominica.com |
| C．volunteer@ ecuador.org | D．Bali@yahoo.com |
Which is NOT a required task for a volunteer at the island of Dominica?
| A．Gardening. |
| B．Building tree houses. |
| C．Swimming in the pool. |
| D．Maintaining hydro systems. |