There are 67 counties in the state of Alabama. Each county is rich with history and its own unique stories. Colbert County, located in the northwest corner of the state, has its share of exciting stories and claims to statewide fame. The county was created on February 6, 1867, and Tuscumbia became the county seat (the town in which the offices of the county government are located).
One of the most famous residents of Tuscumbia was Helen Keller. Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880. Her home was a white frame cottage built by her grandparents. Since ivy (常春藤) grew everywhere, the house was called Ivy Green. It was here, at the water pump in the backyard, that Keller learned the word “w-a-t-e-r” with the help of her teacher, Anne Sullivan. Visitors to Ivy Green can walk under boxwood trees that are 150 years old. The home has furniture that the Keller family used. It also has Keller’s Braille (盲文) books and her original Braille typewriter.
Spring Park is Tuscumbia’s most popular park and favorite tourist attraction. This park has the world’s largest manufactured waterfall called Coldwater Falls. The Spring Park Light and Water Show is an amazing sight to see. It takes place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at sundown. The water appears to dance to music and colored lights. The music played during the show is recorded by singers and musicians from Alabama.
Fame Recording Studios is in the city of Muscle Shoals in Colbert County. The studio is the first successful recording studio in Alabama. It is best known for creating “Southern rock,” “Southern soul,” and “county soul.” Well-known performers like Aretha Franklin and musical groups such as Alabama and Lynyrd have made recordings at this studio.
Visitors can continue to explore music in Alabama by visiting the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Tuscumbia. Built in 1990, this site recognizes the musical talents of more than 500 Alabama residents in a wide variety of musical styles, including country and rhythm and blues.
Truly, Colbert County has a lot of wonderful locations to visit. Guests will not be disappointed in a visit to this delightful place.Which of the following is TRUE about Alabama and music?
A.Alabama musicians have established exhibits for visitors. |
B.There are a great many talented musicians in Alabama. |
C.Music is the most important industry in Alabama. |
D.Alabama residents enjoy listening to music. |
How many locations related to music in Colbert County are mentioned in the text?
A.1. | B.2. | C.3. | D.4. |
The author writes the text mainly to persuade the reader __________.
A.to learn from Helen Keller |
B.to visit businesses in Alabama |
C.to stop for a visit in Colbert County |
D.to listen to Southern styles of music |
The text is most probably taken from __________.
A.a story book | B.a book review |
C.a personal diary | D.a travel magazine |
One of the most famous nursery rhymes(摇篮曲) in the English language is Mary Had a Little Lamb(羔羊). It has touched many children who have read it. It is about the deep love between a young girl and her pet lamb. The poem is from a true story that happened in the early part of the 19th century in the town of Sterling, Massachusetts, in the USA.
Mary Sawyer (1806-1889) lived on a farm with her family. One day, when she was about nine years old, she saw a little lamb that had just been born and left behind by its mother. It was very weak and looked as if it would die at very moment. Mary took pity on the lamb and spent the whole night looking after it. Eventually, it grew strong and became a very close friend with Mary, following her everywhere she went.
One day, the lamb even followed Mary to school. At first she wanted to turn it back but her brother suggested that it would be fun to take the lamb to school. During the class, she hid the lamb under her desk. But when she was called to go to the front of the class, to her surprise, the lamb followed her. Though the students and the teacher thought it was funny to see a lamb at school, the teacher had to ask Mary to keep the lamb outside of the school.
That very day, a young man called John Roulstone was visiting Mary’s school. He was so moved by the love between the child and her little pet lamb that he wrote a poem which he handed to Mary the next day. His poem contained twelve lines.
Later, Sara Josepha Hale added another twelve lines to the poem and published it in 1930 under the title “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. The poem has become a classic, loved by children all over the world. The appeal (吸引力) of the poem lies not only in the funny idea of a sheep going to school but also in the true love between the little girl and her pet. The town of Sterling has honoured Mary’s lamb by building a statue (雕像) of the lamb with Mr Roulstone’s poem below the statue. What is the best title for the passage?
A.Mary Had a Little Lamb | B.The Life of Mary Sawyer |
C.The Origin of a Poem | D.An Animal Friend |
The underlined word “eventually” in the second paragraph most probably means .
A.fortunately | B.gradually | C.finally | D.kindly |
Why did the poem become a classic?
A.It had another twelve lines added. |
B.It was written by a young man. |
C.It describes the true love between a little girl and her pet lamb. |
D.A statue of lamb was built in the town of Sterling. |
Which could be the right order of the following events according to the passage?
a. The poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb”became popular.
b. Mary’s brother suggested that she take the lamb to school.
c. People built a statue to honor the lamb.
d. Mary found a little lamb.
e. A young man was moved by the story and wrote a poem.
A. d. b. e. c. a | B. d. b. e. a. c |
C. d. e. b. c. a | D. d. e. b. a. c |
Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?
A.Mary’s mother was also fond of the little lamb. |
B.Mary and the little lamb developed a very close friendship. |
C.Mary wrote to John Roulstone and asked him to write the poem. |
D.All children were allowed to take their pets to school in America. |
TODAY, Friday, November 12
JAZZ with the Mike Thomas Jazz Band at The Derby Arms. Upper Richmond Road West, Sheen.
DISCO Satin Sounds Disco. Free at The Lord Napier, Mort lake High St., from 8a. m. to 8p.m.
Tel: 682—1158.
SATURDAY, November 13
JAZZ Lysis at The Bull’s Head, Barnes. Admission 60p. % Q- c& A& {' ~* o, R' I, v
MUSICAL HALL at The Star and Garter, Lower Richmond Road, Putney, provided by the Aba Daba Music Hall company. Good food and entertainment fair price. Tel: 789—6749.
MFAMILY night out? Join the sing-along at The Black Horse. Sheen Road, Richmond. 2 R$ p6 W:
The John Bennett Big Band at The Bull’s Head, Barnes. Admission 80p.
ATHE DERBY ARMS, Upper Richmond Road West, give you Joe on the electric accordion(手风琴).
Tel: 789—4536
SUNDAY, November 14
DISCO Satin Sounds Disco, free at The Lord Napier, Mort Lake High Street, from 8 am to 8 p.m.
FOLK MUSIC at The Derby Arms, Upper Richmond Road. The Short Stuff and residents the Norman Chop Trio. Non-remembers 70p. Tel: 688—4626. $
HEAVY MUSIC with Tony Simon at The Bull, Upper Richmond Road.
Where and when can you hear the Norman Chop Trio?
A.At the Bull’s Head on Sunday. |
B.At the Derby Arms on Sunday. |
C.At the Bull on Saturday. |
D.At the Black Horse on Saturday. |
Where and when can you hear the Mike Thomas Jazz Band?
A.At the Derby Arms on Friday. |
B.At the Black Horse on Friday. " |
C.At the Star and Garter on Saturday. , |
D.At the Derby Arms on Sunday. |
You want to enjoy the electric accordion on Saturday. Which telephone number do
you have to ring to find out what time it starts?
A.789—6749. | B.789—4536. | C.682—1158. | D.688—4626. |
You want to spend the Saturday by joining the entertainment with your family.
Where should you go?
A.Disco at The Lord Napier. |
B.The sing-along at The Black Horse. |
C.The electric accordion at The Derby Arms. |
D.Jazz at The Bull’s Head. |
You want to spend the same day at two different places and don’t want to cross any street. Which of the following is your best choice?
A.The sing-along at the Black Horse and Jazz at The Bull’s Head. |
B.The sing-along at The Black Horse and Folk Musi![]() |
C.Folk Music at The Derby Arms and Heavy Music with Tony Simon at The Bull. |
D.Musical Hal lat The Star &Garter and Disco at The Lord Napier. |
People need to relax and enjoy themse1ves.One way they can have a good time is to watch a baseball game or another sports event.Even thousands of years ago,groups of people gathered to watch skilled athletes(运动员).
Over 2000 years ago in Greece,certain days in the year were festival days.These were holidays when people stopped work and enjoyed themselves.They liked to watch athletes take part in races and other games of skill.
The most important festival was held every four years at the town of Olympia.It was held in honor of the Greek God Zeus(Zus).For five days,athletes from all parts of the Greek world took part in the Olympic Games.At the Olympic Games,people could watch them box(拳击),run,jump and so on.There was a relay race between two teams of men in which a lighted torch(火矩)was passed from runner to runner.The Olympic Games were thought to be so important that cities which were at war with one another had to stop fighting.Just then people were allowed to travel to the games safely.Thousands of people came to Olympia from cities in Greece and from her colonies(殖民地)in Africa,Asia and Italy.They met as friends to cheer their favorite
athletes and to enjoy themselves.
What happened in Greece over 2000 years ago?
A.People needn’t to work. |
B.There were often against one another in cities. |
C.People watched baseball games. |
D.People didn’t go to any games at all. |
What were those countries in Africa?
A.Friends. | B.Enemies. | C.Colonies. | D.Relatives. |
What did people do at the games?
A.They fought. | B.They just talked to friends. |
C.They cheered for their favorite athletes![]() |
D.They tried to find friends. |
Greek cities then were fighting so they_____.
A.were weak | B.were safe |
C.couldn’t go to other cities freely | D.could see each other |
The best title for the story is“_____”.
A.Greece at War | B.To gath![]() |
C.Stop Fighting | D.Sport |
Henry Ford was the first person to build cars which were cheap,strong and fast.He was able to se11 millions of cars because he could produce them in large numbers at a time;that is,he made many cars of the same kind.Ford’s father hoped that his son would become a farmer,but the young man did not like the idea and he went to Detroit(底特律)where he worked as a mechanic(机械师).By the age of 29,in 1892,he had built his first car.However,the car made in this way,the famous “ Model T ” did not appear until 1908. Five years ago, Ford started his great motor car factory.This kind of car showed to be well-known that it remained unchanged for twenty year.Since Ford’s time,this way of producing cars in large numbers has become common in industry and has reduced the price of many goods which would be very expensive.
Henry Ford was the man to built _____ cars.
A.cheap and strong | B.cheap and long |
C.fast and expensive | D.strong a![]() |
Ford was able to sell millions of cars,because_____.
A.he made many cars | B.his cars are many |
C.he made lots of cars of the same kind | D.both A and B |
The young man became a mechanic,_______.
A.which was his father’s will | B.which was![]() |
C.which was against his father’s will | D.which was his teacher’s will |
The “ Model T ” was very famous_____.
A.before 1908 | B.between 1982 and 1908 |
C.before 1892 | D.after 1908 |
Ford built his own car factory_____.
A.in 1903 | B.in 1908 | C.in 1913 | D.in 1897 |
BC Social Report, August 14, 2010
Scandinavians may spend a lot of the winter in darkness but they are the happiest people in Europe, according to a study showed this month. Countries like Denmark and Finland scored highest on the study of happiness in Europe carried out by Cambridge University, which also found that the sunny southern countries of Italy, Portugal and Greece got the least joy out of life.
The survey entitled: "No Man is an Island" showed that countries where people enjoy time with friends and family, have trust in government and national institutions were more likely to be happy than those living in a sunny climate. The study rated respondent on their overall sense of happiness and life satisfaction on a scale of one to 10.
Danes (丹麦人)--who expressed a high level of trust in their politicians and public institutions--came top of the field at 8.3. Italians--who reported lower levels of satisfaction with their national quality of government--came last at 6.49.' "Italy, Greece, Portugal, Germany and France report the lowest levels of happiness while the Scandinavian Countries, Netherlands and Luxembourg report the highest," the study said.
Although Europeans are generally four times wealthier than their fathers and grandfathers, their levels of happiness are either equal to or lower than 40 years ago. The study also looked at factors contributing to happiness within countries and surprisingly found that an interest in politics actually increased happiness.
Lead researcher Luisa Corrado said tax cuts and throwing money at social problems appeared to have no effect on the happiness of citizens when compared with government policies which strengthened and supported wider social networks. "People are less naive ( 质朴的) than one would expect, politicians need to adapted their policies and target specific problems in specific areas," she said. According to the passage, we can know .
A.Scandinavians are the happiest people in the world |
B.the research is carried out by Oxford University |
C.the people of the northern countries are much happier |
D.Italians expressed their trust in politics and institutions |
Which of the following factors increases happiness?
A.Interest in polities | B.Wealth | C.Health | D.Websites. |
The underlined word "scale" in the second paragraph means
A.sense | B.life | C.report | D.range |
What's the writer's attitude to the study?
A. Subjunctive. B. Objective.C. Pessimistic. D: Optimistic.In what column may readers probably read the passage?
A.Lifestyle. | B.Amusement. | C.Politics. | D.Health and Happiness. |