【原创】NOWADAYS, most animated (动画) films rely heavily on computer technology. But his magical world – where witches (魔法师) cast spells and castles float in the sky – is brought to life by hand. Nevertheless, Hayao Miyazaki is referred to as Japan’s Walt Disney and considered by many to be the world’s greatest living animator.
This month, the 72-year-old Miyazaki announced his retirement. The Japanese animator has directed 11 animated full-length films over the past four decades, including the Oscar-winning Spirited Away (《千与千寻》) and his latest release, The Wind Rises (《起风了》), which tells the life story of a man who designed Japanese World War II fighter planes.
Just as The Wind Rises shows, Miyazaki is well-known for his obsession with flight, especially human flight. Other striking aspects of Miyazaki’s films include his themes of environmental protection and the horrors of war.
Miyazaki’s work is also famous for its lack of clearly defined good and evil characters. He sees the 21st century as a complex time when old norms need to be re-examined.
As a storyteller, he is an inventor of fairy tales full of mystery. In the Miyazakian universe, wizards (巫师) turn into birds of prey; young girls are transformed overnight into 90-year-old women; greedy parents are changed into pigs; and shooting stars become fire demons (恶魔).
As a visual (视觉的) artist, most of Miyazaki’s grace comes from his vivid (鲜明的) colors and lovingly drawn landscapes – a rolling meadow (草地) covered with flowers and shadowed by clouds, or a range of rocky hills rising toward snow-capped mountain peaks
People attribute Miyazaki’s success to his long pursuit of his hand-drawn technique, although in an interview with CNN he called himself an “extinct species” in the age of digital animation.
A recent television documentary on the making of The Wind Rises showed a disappointed Miyazaki throwing a pile (堆) of drawings into the trash. He is said to have redrawn thousands of frames of the much-praised Princess Mononoke (《幽灵公主》) when they did not meet his standards.
But his huge attention to detail has earned him the respect of the entire animated film world. Even John Lasseter – head of Pixar, the famous US computer animation studio – once called Miyazaki “one of the greatest filmmakers of our time”.What can we know about Miyazaki’s film The Wind Rises?
A.It was put on a long time ago. |
B.Its hero is a soldier. |
C.It describes horrors of war. |
D.It is an Oscar-winning film. |
What does the underlined word “obsession” mean in paragraph 3? ?
A.Enthusiasm. | B.Hate. | C.Envy | D.Sympathy. |
According to the article,Miyazake’s films _____.
A.are full of mystery and imaginative characters and landscapes |
B.are likely to use hand-drawn technique and redrawn abstract frames |
C.are full of new norms and clearly defined good and evil characters |
D.are likely to demonstrate environmental protection and anti-war themes |
What is the main idea of this article ?
A.Miyazake’s impact on Japanese culture |
B.the characteristics of Miyazake’s films |
C.what inspired Miyazake to create his films |
D.what made Miyazake succeed |
A.The Bargain Books Store | B.The 4-for-3 Books Store. |
C.The Significant Seven. | D.The Textbook Store |
If you order two 9-dollar books, one 5-dollar book and one 3-dollar book in the 4-for-3 Books Store, then you can get free.
A.none | B.the 3-dollar book |
C.the 5-dollar book | D.the two 9-dollar books |
In the Significant Seven, you can find .
A.your favorite books 40% off the list price |
B.the reader’s favorite books 30% off the list price |
C.the new titles chosen by the editors as the must-read books of the season everyday |
D.the best-selling books chosen by editors on show every Monday |
The underlined word “categories” means “’.
A.stores | B.shelves | C.types | D.sports |
It was starting to get dark and Bobby turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the setting sun’s rays reflecting off something along the roadside. He reached down and discovered a shiny dime(一角钱). Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at that moment.
As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw.
His excitement quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn’t buy anything with only a dime.
He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line. When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he could buy one flower for his mother’s Christmas gift. The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten cents offering. Then he said to him, “You just wait here and I’ll see what I can do for you.”
The sound of the door closed as the last customer left. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel cold and afraid. Suddenly the shop owner came out. There, before Bobby’s eyes, lay twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together with a big silver bow. Bobby’s heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them gently into a long white box. “That will be ten cents, young man.” The shop owner said reaching out his hand for the dime.
Sensing the boy’s reluctance(勉强), the shop owner added, “I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like them?”
When the man placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out of the door that the owner was holding, Bobby heard the shopkeeper say, “Merry Christmas, son.” Bobby feel that he was rich?
A.Because he found a purse with many dollars |
B.Becau![]() |
C.Because he was given a bunch of flowers |
D.Because he found some hidden treasure. |
What can we infer from the third paragraph?
A.Christmas gifts were always very expensive |
B.The salesperson’s words greatly disappointed Bobby. |
C.Bobby was tired of trying one shop after another |
D.The salesperson was trying to cheat Bobby. |
While waiting for the shop owner in the flower ship, Bobby .
A.was full of excitement and joy |
B.was very thankful to the shop owner |
C.felt he had been cheated by the owner |
D.was not sure whether the owner would accept his offering |
Living an Adventurous Life
Nearly ten years ago, I was told that I had a brain tumor (瘤), and this experience changed my attitude about adventure forever.I thought that I was going to die and that all my adventures were over.I did not have a brain tumor, it turned out, but rather multiple sclerosis (多发性硬化症), which meant that, although they were not over, the nature of my adventures could have to change.
Each morning that I wake up is a fresh event, something that I might not have had.Each gesture that I make carries the weight of uncertainty and demands significant attention: buttoning my shirt, changing a light bulb, walking down stairs.I might not be able to do it this time.If I could not delight in them, they would likely drown me in anger and in self-pity.
I admire the grand adventures of others.I read about them with interest.With Peter Matthiessen I have hiked across the Himalayas to the Crystal Mountain.I have walked with Annie Dillard up, down, into, and across Tinker Creek in all seasons.David Bain has gone with me along 110 miles of Philippine coast, and Ed Abbey has rowed me down the Colorado River.I enjoy the adventures of these courageous figures, who can strike out on difficult trips – 2 miles, 250 miles, 3000 miles – ready to bear cold and tiredness, indeed not just to bear but to celebrate.
But as for me, I can no longer walk very far from the armchair in which I read.Some days I don’t even make it to the backyard.And yet I’m unwilling to give up the adventurous life, the difficulty of it, even the pain, the anxiety and fear, and the sudden brief lift of spirit that makes a hard journey more attractive.
I refine adventure, make it smaller and smaller.And now, whether I am moving on my hands and knees across the dining room to help my cat, lying wide-eyed in the dark battling another period of sadness, gathering flowers from the garden, meeting a friend for lunch, I am always having the adventures that are mine to have.Which of the following is TRUE about the author’s reaction after the illness?
A.The author is drowned in anger and self-pity. |
B.The author travels to places he/she has dreamed of. |
C.The author can’t take care of himself/herself any longer. |
D.The a![]() |
Why does the author admire the people mentioned in Paragraph 3?
A.Because they write popular novels. | B.Because they are great adventurers. |
C.Because they are famous geographers. | D.Because they fight with hardship in life. |
Which of the following shows the author’s strong love for adventures?
A.The author spends almost every day looking for adventures. |
B.The author works hard to make more money for adventures. |
C.The author imagines having adventures while reading. |
D.The author expects to recover only to continue adventures. |
Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes.To some degree our intelligence is given to us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius (天才) out of a child born with low intelligence.On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings.Thus the limits of a person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment.This view, now held by most experts can be supported in a number of ways.
It is easy to say that intelligence is to some degree something we are born with.The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence.Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different.If on the other hand we take two identical twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other.Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.
Imagine that now we take two identical twins and put them in different environments.We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring.We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part.This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence.By using the example that two people closer in blood relationship are closer in intelligence, the writer wants to prove _________.
A.intelligence is given at birth |
B.intelligence can be developed by environment |
C.intelligence can be developed by experience |
D.education plays an important part in the development of education |
A child who lives in rich and varied surroundings turns out higher in intelligence because ________.
A.his family is rich and therefore can afford to develop his intelligence |
B.he can break the limits of intelligence fixed at birth |
C.his family is rich and provides him with various![]() |
D.these surroundings are likely to help him reach the limits of their intelligence |
The writer of this article believes that _________.
A.the development of one’s intelligence is determined by many things working together |
B.environment plays the most important role in the development of intelligence |
C.education plays the most important role in the development of intelligence |
D.birth plays the most important role in the development of intelligence |
The best title for this passage might be ________
__.
A.The Answer to a Question | B.Birth and Environment |
C.Intelligence | D.Intelligence and Education |
Is there a nationwide shortage of nurses? It’s hard to say.However, some characteristic symptoms often indicate that there is indeed a shortage.
One symptom is the vacancy rate, or the percentage of budgeted positions that are unfilled.New England’s hospitals currently report that an average of 7 to 12 percent of their registered nurse positions are vacant, the highest level since the last shortage in the late 1980s.Vermont has a relatively low vacancy rate, at 7.8 percent.But its vacancies were at 1.2 percent just five years ago.
Another symptom is the increased use of stopgap measures to fill empty positions.For instance, many nurses report an upswing in how frequently they are asked to stay past their shifts.According to Murphy, working in the St.Elizabeth’s Hospital, “The shortage has definitely created a lot of opportunities of overtime for our nurses, whether they want them or not.” Similarly, a national survey of registered nurses shows that in an average week, nurses in the U.S.work 2.4 more hours than they are scheduled to.Much of this extra time is voluntary, as nurses earn overtime pay when they stay to fill in blanks in the schedule.
When they can’t fill open positions by more traditional means, health care providers hire temporary staff to tide them over.Travelling workers are the largest part of the temporary health care workforce, hired for thirteen-week reduction at health care facilities facing short-term lack of workers.Temporary workers, mainly nurses, cost hospitals $ 7.2 billion in 2000.
“Any successful solution to the shortage depends on convincing more people to become nurses, and that is not an easy goal to reach.To achieve it,” says Buerhaus, “society needs to place more value on nursing.Legislation (法规) can’t do that – it should come from people.” And if this continues, we might have to learn to care for ourselves in the hospital.
The temporary staff hired by a hospital _______.
A.cost a large part of the hospital’s budget |
B.meet the need for nurses in the hospital for a short time |
C.should work on a weekly basis and on a scheduled timetable |
D.ought to work passively for thirty continuous weeks |
According to Buerhaus, what is a successful solution to the nurse shortage?
A.To convince people of the benefits of being a nurse. |
B.To ask the government for help to work out specific legislation. |
C.To publicize the past achievements of nurses. |
D.To make people aware of the importance of being a nurse. |
What’s the probable meaning of the underlined word “upswing” in Paragraph 3?
A.Symptom | B.Decrease | C.Increase | D.Figure |
What’s the author’s attitude towards nurse shortage?
A.Worried | B.Indifferent | C.Doubtful | D.Optimistic |