Not being the greatest fan in the world of live performance, I took a deep breath before I en tered the building, the castle theatre, and prepared myself to be bored, expecting to find it more interesting to watch the audience than the show. Then I got the shock of my life.
Wadaiko Inchiro are a group of ten young Japanese men and women using traditional drums with a history going back more than 1500 years. The drums were once used for festivals and religious ceremonies and also as a means of communication during wars. Today they give an ear-blasting performance which punches out rhythms with the power to wind you. They’re a welcome relief from the Scottish pipers.
Unlike other performances, the best seats are at the back of the house. Not only will your ears be protected from full blast, but you will get a fantastic view of the whole set. On stage are some of the biggest drums you will ever see and a cast wearing red, white and black headscarf.
There had been almost no publicity for the show, but the house was full of people desperate, one could only assume, for something a bit different from the unrelenting performances appearing at this world-famous festival. The solid 60-minutes show starts as it means to go on. The drums rumble into fever-pitch action as the ten-strong company strike their sticks with startling control. Their rhythmic frenzy almost immediately drugs you into submission. Trapped inside the beating of the drums, you carried swiftly through warrior war cries to emotional rhapsodies（狂想曲）. Not only is this display musically impressive, but the dance is strikingly beautiful. Moving between the enormity（巨大）of the drums, the slight Japanese characters have complete synchronicity（同步性）with the flying of their sticks, which they ceremonially cross and use to command.
The biggest drum is played only by Inchiro, the leader of the group. When I ask why this is so, he refuses to admit that he is being precious about this monster of an instrument and says, “When someone else can play it as I do, I will happily move aside.” Dressed all in red, he stands before it as thought he is worshipping at an altar; as he raises his sticks to the drum, he touches it sometimes tenderly and sometimes murderously. Inchiro and his drum produce a range of sounds from thunder to the trickle of rain.The writer took a deep breath before entering the building because she__________ .
| A．was excited |
| B．knew it would be hot in the theatre |
| C．was nervous |
| D．was preparing herself to be bored |
According to the writer, there were many people watching the performance because________.
| A．the drummers are dressed in different colors |
| B．they wanted to see something unusual |
| C．the people in the group are famous |
| D．the show had been well advertised |
We can learn from the passage that .
| A．the drums have been linked with religion for a long time |
| B．the show was more exciting at the beginning than at the end |
| C．the drummers make controlled movements with their drums |
| D．the best place to see the show is the seats nearest to the drummers |
Inchiro feels that____________.
| A．no one else should ever play the biggest drum |
| B．he must always make loud noises on his biggest drum |
| C．he is now the only one who can play the biggest drum well enough |
| D．it is very important for him to teach someone else to play the biggest drum |
| THE BEST SHOPPING IN SYDNEY Sydney is one of the world's biggest cities and has something for everyone when it comes to shopping. You will find excellent Australian products alongside the best that the world has to offer. At the bottom of Sydney Tower, you can shop in 160 of Sydney's favorite stores including 16 jewellery stores and many gift and fashion shops. It's all at Westfield Centrepoint. Tel: 9231 9300. |
SOVEREIGN HILL This prize-winning living museum is where Australia's history comes alive! Visit daily or stay for the night and experience life of the Gold Rush days. A wonderful nightly sound and light show, " Blood on the Southern Cross" tells the story of the famous Eureka Uprising. Enjoy shopping along with real life character and entertainment. 4-star hotel and breakfast. Tel: 5331 1944 |
| ANCHORAGE RESTAURANT Come and enjoy our delicious Cantonese seafood right on the water's edge in the historic fishing port of Williamstown with views of the city centre across Port Phillip Bay. Open 7 days a week Lunch: Sunday to Friday 11:00 am--2:00 pm Dinner: Monday to Saturday 5:00pm.--10: 30pm. Tel: 9397 6270 or 9397 7799 |
COOK'S COTTAGE Built by James and Grace Cook, parents of Captain James Cook, Cook's Cottage stands proud in the Fitzroy Gardens as a reminder of life in the eighteenth century, and as a celebration and commemoration of the life and travels of Captain James Cook. Open 9:00 am —5:00 pm daily, and until 5,: 30 pm during the summer. Information: 9419 4677. |
Where can you spend the night in a tour?
| A．Cook's Cottage. | B．Westfield Centrepoint. |
| C．Sydney Tower: | D．Sovereign Hill. |
What is the time that Cook's Cottage is open on Saturday in the summer?
| A．11:00 am--2:00 pm. | B．5:00 pm--10:30 pm. |
| C．9:00 am--5:30 pm. | D．9:00 am--5:00 pm. |
The Anchorage Restaurant is_______________________.
| A．in Williamstown | B．in the centre of the city |
| C．in Anchorage | D．in a Cantonese fishing port |
If you want to buy the best products in Australia, you may call_____________.
| A．9397 6270 | B．9231 9300 | C． 5331 1944 | D． 9419 4677 |
Deserts are found where there is little rainfall or where rain for a whole year falls in only a few weeks' time. Ten inches of rain may be enough for many plants to survive (存活)if the rain is
spread throughout the year, If it falls, within one or two months and the rest of the year is dry, those plants may die and a desert may form.
Sand begins as tiny pieces of rock that get smaller and smaller as wind and weather wear them down. Sand dunes (沙丘) are formed as winds move the sand across the desert. Bit by bit, the
dunes grow over the years, always moving with the winds and changing the shape. Most of them are only a few feet tall, but they can grow to be several hundred feet high.
There is, however, much more to a desert than sand. In the deserts of the southwestern United States, cliffs (悬崖) and deep valleys were formed from thick mud that once lay beneath a sea more than millions of years ago. Over the centuries, the water dried up. Wind, sand , rain, heat and cold all wore away at the remaining rocks. The faces of the desert mountains are always changing –-very, very slowly ---as these forces of nature continue to work on the rock.
Most deserts have a surprising variety of life. There are plants, animals and insects that :have adapted to life in the desert. During the heat of the day, a visitor may see very few signs of living things, but as the air begins to cool in the evening, the desert comes to life. As the sun begins to rise again in the sky, the desert once again becomes quiet and lonely.Many plants may survive in deserts when__________________.
| A．the rain is spread out in a year | B．the rain falls only in a few weeks |
| C．there is little rain in a year | D．it is dry all the year round |
Sand dunes are formed when___________________.
| A．sand piles up gradually | B．there is plenty of rain in a year |
| C．the sea has dried up over the years | D．pieces of rock get smaller |
The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that in a desert there is____________.
| A．too much sand | B．more sand than before |
| C．nothing except sand | D．something else besides sand |
It can be learned from the text that in a desert____________.
| A．there is no rainfall throughout the year | B．life exists in rough conditions |
| C．all sand dunes are a few feet high | D．rocks are worn away only by wind and heat |
He was the baby with no name. Found and taken from the north Atlantic 6 days after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, his tiny body so moved the salvage (救援) workers that they called him “our baby.” In their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, people collected money for a headstone in front of the baby's grave (墓), carved with the words: “To the memory of an unknown child.” He has rested there ever since.
But history has a way of uncovering its secrets. On Nov. 5, this year, three members of a family from Finland arrived at Halifax and laid fresh flowers at the grave. “This is our baby,” says Magda Schleifer, 68, a banker. She grew up hearing stories about a great-aunt named Maria Panula,42, who had sailed on the Titanic for America to be reunited with her husband. According to the information Mrs. Schleifer had gathered, Panula gave up her seat on a lifeboat to search for her five children -- including a 13-month-old boy named Eino from whom she had become separated during the final minutes of the crossing. "We thought they were all lost in the sea," says Schleifer.
Now, using teeth and bone pieces taken from the baby's grave, scientists have compared the
DNA from the Unknown Child with those collected from members of five families who lost relatives on the Titanic and never recovered the bodies. The result of the test points only to one possible person: young Eino. Now, the family sees: no need for a new grave. "He belongs to the people of Halifax," says Schleifer. "They've taken care of him for 90 years."
Adapted from People, November 25, 2002The baby travelled on the Titanic with his___________.
| A．mother | B．parents | C．aunt | D．relatives |
What is probably the boy's last name?
| A．Schleiferi | B．Eino. | C．Magda. | D．Panula. |
Some members of the family went to Halifax and put flowers at the child's grave on Nov. 5__.
| A． 1912 | B．1954 | C．2002 | D．2004 |
This text is mainly about how______________.
| A．the unknown baby's body was taken from the north Atlantic |
| B．the unknown baby was buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| C．people found out who the unknown baby was |
| D．people took care of the unknown baby for 90 years |
Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values—this can’t be repeated too often—are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering(干涉) with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.
Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical maintenance(机械维修，保养) as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results will be. And at what point should you stop to treat the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by seeking the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You can’t ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there’s life, there’s hope.
When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.
1. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The values are different between the old and the young.
B. The moral problems raised by old people.
C. The personal freedom for the old.
D. Old people’s viewpoint on life.
2. We can know from the first paragraph that________.
A. Very old people would like to live alone to have more personal freedom.
B. Very old people are able to keep their room clean.
C. Very old people like to live with their children.
D. Social services have nothing to do with very old people.
3. According to the author, which of the following is right?
A. The older a person, the more care he needs.
B. Too much emphasis has been put on old people’s values.
C. The human body can’t be compared to a car.
D. It is easy to provide spare parts for old people.
4.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to “________”.
A. their money or their health
B. the conclusion you come to
C. your talk to the old people
D. whether age is happy or unpleasant
Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and the required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
A political scientist from Indiana University whose work exploring how people come together to preserve their collective resources may provide important clues in the fight against climate change has become the first woman to win the Nobel prize for economics.
Elinor Ostrom, 76, shares 2009 Nobel prize with fellow American academic Oliver Williamson, 77. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced to the world the pair had been chosen to win the 40th prize in economic sciences.
For Ostrom, the award came, as a "big surprise". To rise to the peak of her area of learning has been a big journey, as she has had to struggle against her own weaknesses and the barriers of the system. At school in Los Angeles, she suffered from stuttering. She also faced the barriers common to most women of her generation entering the sciences --- she was discouraged from taking a PhD when she applied for graduate school.
Her field of study has been striking for how cross-disciplinary it is. Early on she gained a reputation for bringing economics, political science and sociology together.
What interests her is how common property can be managed successfully through groups in society. The findings of her research have been striking, as the Nobel committee pointed out, because they have challenged the traditional assumption that common property is poorly managed unless it is either controlled by government or privatized. She has shown how different individuals can band together and form collectives that protect the resource at hand.
“A lot of people are waiting for more international co-operation to solve global warming.” Ostrom said , “It is important that there is international agreement, but we can be taking steps at family level, community level, civic and national level … There are many steps that can be taken. That will not solve it on their own but continuously will make a big difference.”
81. How did Ostrom feel when she got the prize? (not more than 3 words)
82. What does “cross-disciplinary” mean according to the passage? (not more than 9 words)
83. Why was Ostrom advised not to take a PhD when she applied for graduate school? (not more than 9 words)
84. Why was Ostrom awarded the Nobel prize for economics? (not more than 16 words)