Arthur Miller （1915-2005）is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller’s father had moved to the USA from Austria Hungary, attracted like so many others by the “Great American Dream”. However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early l930s.
Miller’s most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as symbol of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sympathy: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.Why did Arthur Miller’s father move to the USA?
| A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country. |
| B．He was attracted by the “Great American Dream”. |
| C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist. |
| D．His family business failed. |
The play Death of a Salesman _______________.
| A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world |
| B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company |
| C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller |
| D．focuses on the skills in doing business |
What can we learn about Willy Loman?
| A．He treats his employer badly. |
| B．He runs the Wagner Company. |
| C．He is a victim of the American system. |
| D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues. |
After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman __________.
| A．achieved huge success |
| B．won the first Tony Award |
| C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen |
| D．was severely attacked by dramatists |
HOLIDAY FUN AT THE POWERHOUSE
500 HARRIS STREET
ULTIMO ·TELEPHONE (02)9270111
Join in the holiday fun at the powerhouse this month linked to our new exhibition, Evolution & Revolution: Chinese dress 1700s to now. DON’T FORGET our other special event, the Club Med Circus School which is part of the Circus（马戏团）！150 years of circus in Australia exhibition experience!
◆Chinese Folk Dancing: Colorful Chinese dance and musical performances by The Chinese Folk Dancing School of Sydney. Dances include: the Golden and the Chinese drum dance. A feature will be the Qin dynasty Emperor’s count dance. Also included is a show of face painting for Beijing opera performances.
Sunday June29 and Wednesday July2 in the Turbine Hall, at 11:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.
◆Australian Chinese Children’s Arts Theatre: Well-known children’s play experts from Shanghai lead this dynamic youth group. Performances include Chinese fairy tales and plays.
Thursday 3 to Sunday 6 July in the Turbine Hall, at 11:30 a.m. & 1:30 p.m.
◆Chinese Youth League: A traditional performing arts group featuring performance highlights such as Red scarf and Spring flower dances, and a musician playing Er Hu.
Sunday 6 to Tuesday 8 July in the Turbine Hall. 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
◆Kids Activity: Make a Paper Horse: Young children make a paper horse cut-out. (The horse is a frequent theme in Chinese painting, including a kind of advancement.) Suitable for ages 8-12 years.
Sunday 28 June to Tuesday 8 July in the Turbine Hall. 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
◆Club Med Circus School: Learn circus skills, including the trapeze, trampolining and magic. Note only for children over 5. There are 40 places available in each 1 hour session and these must be booked at the front desk, level 4, on the day.
Tuesday 1 to Saturday 5 July at 11:30 a.m. & 1:00 p.m.
Enjoy unlimited free visits and many other benefits by becoming a Family member of the Powerhouse. Our family memberships cover two adults and all children under the age of 16 years at the one address.
All this for as little as $50.00 a year! Call (02)92170600 for more details.When can you watch the Chinese drum dance?
| A．On July 2. | B．On July 3. |
| C．On July 6. | D．On July 8. |
To learn the magic tricks, you can go to ____________.
| A．Kids Activity. |
| B．Chinese Youth League. |
| C．Club Med Circus School. |
| D．Children’s Arts Theatre. |
What is required if you want to enjoy free visits to the Museum?
| A．Calling (02)92170600. |
| B．Gaining family membership. |
| C．Coming for the holiday fun. |
| D．Paying Powerline $50.00 a year. |
What is the main purpose of the text?
| A．To attract visitors. |
| B．To present schedules. |
| C．To report the performances. |
| D．To teach kids Chinese arts. |
Security—for the information on your smartphone, as well as for the phone itself---is a hot topic these days. The truth is that you’re packing a lot of sensitive information on your phone, and you should keep it safe.
When it comes to physical security, iPhone users would do well to download Find My iPhone, a free app from Apple that allows you to visit a website and see your (lost, stolen or misplaced) phone on the map. You can then sound an alarm, send a message that will pop up on its screen, lock the phone or erase all your data.
Android does not have an exact equivalent(等价物), but there are plenty of alternatives. A free app called Lookout offers the find-my-phone feature. The paid version allows you to wipe the data from your phone remotely.
Then there is your coffee shop’s WiFi network. Anyone with minimal technical expert skill can snoop on(窥视) people using shared wireless networks, harvesting passwords and other personal data. Lookout’s apps will caution you when you’ve logged on to an insecure network, but cannot protect you once you’re there.
In order to protect yourself on such networks, you can use a virtual private network, or V.P.N. This turns all your activity into nonsense to anyone trying to read along with you from across the Starbucks. It also keeps websites from tracking you and, if you’re traveling, allows you to get access to sites that may be blocked in other countries.
If you have an iPhone, the simplest V.P.N. app is probably Hotspot Shield, whose distinguishing feature is said to be that it automatically kicks in each time you start browsing (浏览), as opposed to other V.P.N. apps that require you to start them up manually(手动). This matters, because even if you decide you want a V.P.N. app, you want to spend approximately zero time thinking about it. For the most part, that was true of Hotspot Shield, though occasionally it took a while to connect or temporarily lost connection without warning. I found myself having to turn the app on and off sometimes, which involved setting my phone constantly.
If even reading about the setting on your phone drives you crazy, then it is probably best to stay away from a V.P.N. app. But if you’re the type who can’t resist checking your bank balance from your comer bar, the hassle (麻烦) may be preferable to the risk.Which of the following can warn you against the insecure network?
| A．Android | B．V.P.N. | C．Lookout | D．Find My iPhone |
By using V.P.N., users can ________.
| A．find their lost phone on the Internet |
| B．remove all the data form the phone remotely |
| C．check the bank balance now and then |
| D．save their browsing from being tracked |
The underlined word “that” in Para.6 refers to the fact that _________.
| A．a V.P.N. app kicks in automatically |
| B．the users starts V.P.N. apps manually |
| C．the app take a while to connect |
| D．users spend no time thinking about it |
One evening last summer, when I asked my 14-year-old son, Ray, for help with dinner, his response shocked me. "What’s a colander(漏勺)? " he asked.
I could only blame myself. In the family, nobody else’s hands went in the sauce except my own. But that night, as I explained with a touch of panic that a colander is the thing with holes in it, I wondered what else I hadn’t prepared Ray for.
As parents, while we focus on our sons’ confidence and character, we perhaps don’t always consider that we are also raising someone’s future roommates, boyfriends, husbands, or fathers. I wanted to know that I’d raised a boy who would never ask the woman in his life, "What’s for dinner?" So I came up with a plan: I would offer Ray a private home economics course. I was delighted to find that he didn’t say no. For two hours, three days a week, Ray was all mine. One day, as his tomato sauce reduced on the stove, he washed and seasoned a chicken for roasting. Then he rolled out the piecrust (馅饼皮) and filled it with apples, all while listening to my explanation on the importance of preheating an oven.
I knew that he would rather have been shooting hoops in the driveway than learning to mend socks with his mother—he tried to beg off sewing lessons, even though I insisted that one day, someone would find the sight of him fixing his own shirt very attractive— but it couldn’t be denied that he was learning, and more than just housekeeping. "I appreciate what you do as a mom," he told me one day. Ray now understands the finer points of cooking, and more importantly, he realizes there’s nothing masculine (男子气概的) about being helpless.
Now, not only can he make his own dinner, but also he can make a big meal for his family. That’s what I call a man. I’m glad that I prepared so great a present for my future daughter-in-law.Why was the author shocked at her son’s response?
| A．Because he was not well behaved. |
| B．Because he refused to help with dinner. |
| C．Because he didn’t know the common kitchen tools. |
| D．Because he was very curious about kitchen tools. |
In the author’s opinion, some parents pay little attention to _______.
| A．building up children’s confidence |
| B．telling kids what is right and wrong |
| C．preparing children for their future life |
| D．making children live a hard life |
After learning to do housework, Ray _______.
| A．fell in love with sewing |
| B．did other work in the house |
| C．began to be more hardworking |
| D．acknowledged his mother’s efforts |
We can infer from the text that Ray _______.
| A．made great progress in cooking. |
| B．always thought housework interesting. |
| C．preferred sewing to cooking. |
| D．was unwilling to learn cooking at first. |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Useful education for boys |
| B．The importance of housework |
| C．Boys should be involved in housework. |
| D．Cooking and sewing make boys masculine. |
There are many fun, free activities that you can do as a family. All that is required is a bit of imagination and some time set aside for fun. And the best part is that these are the kind of memories a child will remember for a lifetime.
Family game night
Find out any of the games that are already around the house. Kids often get computer games for Christmas or birthdays, and would love to have a chance to play with their family. Or, make up some games of your own. “Charades” is a fun game to play that will challenge a child to use his/her imagination. Divide the family into teams and let each team come up with words that the other has to act out.
________________________
Pick some time for the family to sit down and come up with their own masterpiece. It doesn't need to be just a drawing -- take some old magazines sitting around the house, let the kids cut out pictures and paste them into their own montage. Or, use items from nature. Let them use leaves, pine cones（松果）, twigs and whatever else they can find to create something from their imaginations.
Family Picnic
Taking the family for a picnic is a great way for some fun that doesn't cost any money. If the weather is nice, take them to a park or playground and let the kids have a day of playing. Or, if it is the middle of winter and a foot of snow is on the ground, set up a picnic in the living room.
Family Field Trip
A family field trip doesn't have to cost a dime. Ask a nearby farm if it would be alright to bring your kids out for a tour and to see some of the animals. Or take them to a park and make a scavenger hunt(寻物游戏) where they need to find certain items from nature. Ask a local business if you could bring the family for a tour to see how things work -- you might be surprised at the number of people who would be thrilled to share what they do with others, and it could be an interesting lesson for the kids.We can learn from the passage that “charades” ________.
| A．is a computer game |
| B．is too difficult for children |
| C．involves acting out words |
| D．should be played by more than four people |
What is the best title to be put in the blank of part two? ____________.
| A．Family art time | B．Family gardening time |
| C．Family music time | D．Family cleaning time |
According to the passage, the family picnic____________.
| A．should be held in the middle of winter |
| B．can be held inside your house |
| C．will be very meaningful if held in offices |
| D．will cost much money if held on a farm |
The writer wrote this passage mainly to _____________.
| A．encourage children to use imagination. |
| B．share precious family memories |
| C．discuss young children’s interests |
| D．suggest fun activities to families |
Can dogs and cats live in perfect harmony in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cats are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found a new recipe of success. According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along well. Two-thirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog.
However, it wasn’t all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while aggression and fighting were observed in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals were just opposite. For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals aggression, while a dog doing the same signals means giving up.
In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behaviour. They are learning how to talk each other’s language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk “dog”, and dogs can learn how to talk “cat”.
What’s interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence. They can learn to read each other’s body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than was preciously suspected. Once familiar with each other’s presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together in the sofa. They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom(梳理) each other.
The significance of this research on cats and dogs maygo beyond pets----to people who don’t get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.Some cats and dogs may fight when_________.
| A．they are cold to each other |
| B．they look away from each other |
| C．they misunderstand each other’s signals |
| D．they are introduced at an early age |
What is found surprising about cats and dogs?
| A．They eat and sleep together |
| B．They observe each other’s behaviors |
| C．They learn to speak each other’s language |
| D．They know something from each other’s voice |
It is suggested in paragraph 4 that cats and dogs_______.
| A．have common interests |
| B．are less different than was thought |
| C．have a common body language |
| D．are less intelligent than was expected |
What can we human beings learn from cats and dogs?
| A．We should learn to live in harmony |
| B．We should knows more about animals |
| C．We should live in peace with animals |
| D．We should learn more body languages |