Tomato Festival
Started in 2005, the Tomato Festival has grown into a local tradition in Malta. In recent years, the festival has added amusement park-style rides and a yearly Creature Feature, which screens old horrible movies.There are also dance competitions, parades and pancake breakfast.Third weekend in August.
Address: 833 Tinkham Rd, Fountain Park, Wilbra-ham, Massachusetts 01095
Phone: (413)599-0010
Brat Days
Don't mistake this festival for a day filled with poorly behaved children. Begun in 1953, the gathering is the biggest festival in the city each year and features more than 50 stands selling the sausage, as well as a contest to see who can quickly eat the most bratwurst in ten minutes.Early August.
Address: 17th and New Jersey sts, Kiwanis Park, She boygan, Wisconsin 53081
Phone: (920)457-9491
Hope Watermelon Festival
The festival dates back to the 1920s, when many trains went through this small town and local watermelon growers would sell their watermelon to parched travelers.These days, the festival sees a Watermelon Queen crowned(加冠的) and sometimes a world-record watermelon grown.There are also more than 300 stands selling arts and crafts from a six-state area, as well as a car show and the Watermelon Olympics.Early August.
Address: 108 W 3rd St, Hope, Arkansas 71801
Phone: (870) 777-3640
Oyster Festival (牡蛎节)
Featuring appearances from tall ships and oyster boats, this festival has regularly drawn 60,000 visitors a year since it began in 1978.More than 3,000 volunteers make the festival possible each year.Norwalk is less than a two-hour drive from many of New England's larger cities, making it easy to attend the festival during a trip to New York or Hartford.Weekend after Labor Day.
Address: Sea view Ave, Veteran's Park, East Nor-walk, Connecticut 06855
Phone: (800) 866-7925Which of the following festivals has the longest history?
A.Oyster Festival | B.Hope Watermelon Festival |
C.Brat Days | D.Tomato Festival |
The underlined word "parched" in the third passage means _____.
A.tired | B.hungry | C.thirsty | D.excited |
In which of the following activities can you enjoy the frightening films?
A.The Creature Feature |
B.The Watermelon Olympics |
C.The Eating-bratwurst Contest |
D.Dance Competitions |
If it is August 15 today this year, you might still attend _____.
A.Brat Days | B.Oyster Festival |
C.Hope Watermelon Festival | D.Tomato Festival |
D
Many critics worry about violence on television, most out of fear that it stimulates viewers to violent or aggressive acts. Our research, however, indicates that the consequences of experiencing TV’s symbolic world of violence may be much more far-reaching.
We have found that people who watch a lot of TV see the real world as more dangerous and frightening than those who watch very little. Heavy viewers are less trustful of their fellow citizens, and more fearful of the real world. Since most TV “action-adventure” dramas occur in urban settings, the fear they inspire may contribute to the current flee of the middle class from our cities. The fear may also bring increasing demands for police protection, and election of law-and-order politicians.
While none of us is completely dependent upon television for our view of the world, neither have many of us had the opportunity to observe the reality of police stations, courtrooms, corporate board rooms, or hospital operating rooms. Although critics complain about the fixed characters and plots of TV dramas, many viewers look on them as representative of the real world. Anyone who questions that statement should read the 250,000 letters, most containing requests for medical advice, sent by viewers to “Marcus Welby, M.D.” —a popular TV drama series about a doctor— during the first five years of his practice on TV.
Violence on television leads viewers to regard the real world as more dangerous than it really is, which must also influence the way people behave. When asked, “Can most people be trusted?” the heavy viewers were 35 percent more likely to choose “Can’t be too careful.”
Victims, like criminals, must learn their proper roles, and televised violence may perform the teaching function all too well. Instead of worrying only about whether television violence causes individual displays of aggression in the real world, we should also be concerned about social reality. Passive acceptance of violence may result from far greater social concern than occasional displays of individual aggression.
We have found that violence on prime-time(黄金时段)network TV cultivates overstated threat of danger in the real world. The overstated sense of risk and insecurity may lead to increasing demands for protection, and to increasing pressure for the use of force by established authority. Instead of threatening the social order, television may have become our chief instrument of social control.Which of the following is NOT among the consequences of watching TV too much?
A.Distrusting people around. |
B.Moving into rural areas. |
C.Asking the police for protection. |
D.supporting more politicians. |
According to the passage, why did “Marcus Welby, M.D.” receive so many letters?
A. Because viewers believed the doctor did exist in the real life.
B. Because certain TV programmes recommended him to viewers.
C. Because he was an experienced doctor and saved many lives.
D. Because the TV appealed to people to pay attention to health.According to the author, _________ is mainly to blame for people’s fear of the realworld.
A.network TV |
B.social reality |
C.individual display of violence |
D.televised violence |
We can infer from the passage that __________.
A.people tend to be aggressive or violent after watching TV too much |
B.people learn to protect themselves from dangers after watching TV violence. |
C.the occasional displays of individual aggression may threaten the social order |
D.watching TV may cause the misuse of authority and disturb the social order |
C
High school dropouts earn an average of $9,000 less per year than graduates. Now a new study denies a common belief why they quit. It’s much more basic than flunking out(不及格).
Society tends to think of high school dropouts as kids who just can’t make it. They are lazy, and perhaps not too bright. So researchers were surprised when they asked more than 450 kids who quit school about why they left.
“The vast majority actually had passing grades and they were confident that they could have graduated from high school.”John Bridgeland, the executive researcher said. About 1 million teens leave school each year. Only about half of African-American and Hispanic(美籍西班牙的)students will receive a diploma, and actually all dropouts come to regret their decision. So, if failing grades don’t explain why these kids quit, what does? Again, John Bridgeland:“The most dependable finding was that they were bored.”“They found classes uninteresting;they weren’t inspired or motivated. They didn’t see any direct connection between what they were learning in the classroom to their own lives, or to their career aspirations.”
The study found that most teens who do drop out wait until they turn sixteen, which happens to be the age at which most states allow students to quit. In the US, only one state, New Mexico, has a law requiring teenagers to stay in high school until they graduate. Only four states: California, Tennessee, Texas and Utah, plus the District of Columbia, require school attendance until age 18, no exceptions. Jeffrey Garin, another researcher, says raising the compulsory attendance age may be one way to keep more kids in school.
“As these dropouts look back, they realize they’ve made a mistake. And anything that sort of gives these people an extra push to stick it out and see it through to the end, is probably helpful measure.”
New Hampshire may be the next state to raise its school attendance age to 18.But critics say that forcing the students unwilling to continue their studies to stay in school misses the point—the need for reform. It’s been called for to reinvent high school education to make it more challenging and relevant, and to ensure that kids who do stick it out receive a diploma that actually means something.Most high school students drop out of school because_______.
A.they have failing grades |
B.they take no interest in classes |
C.they are mistreated |
D.they are lazy and not intelligent |
According to the passage, which state has a law requiring school attendance until they graduate?
A.New Hampshire |
B.Utah |
C.New Mexico |
D.The District of Columbia |
The underlined words“stick it out”probably means“________”.
A.complete schooling |
B.solve the problem |
C.love having classes |
D.believe in themselves |
In the last paragraph, the writer is trying to________.
A.analyze the reason why students quit school |
B.suggest raising the compulsory attendance age |
C.raise awareness of reforming high school education |
D.wish to make laws to guarantee no dropout |
B
MAP ARTIST PROGRAM
Map Artist is the perfect tool for creating customized maps to include in research projects and reports. Map Artist offers endless possibilities. It has a huge collection of map styles to choose from, and they can be customized to suit your special needs. In this program, we will assume you have been asked to create a map for a social studies report.
Step 1. When you open Map Artist, a world map will be displayed. Type “USA” in the dialogue box. Click GO. A map of USA will be displayed.
Step 2. Click on the drop-down menu next to the outline map of the state. Click on the type of map you need for your report.
· OUTLINE shows only the outline shape of the state with no highways or population centers indicated.
· TOPOGRAPHIC indicates elevations(海拔)as well as the location of major cities.
· SHADED RELIEF shows only natural landforms (mountains, valleys, rivers) and national parks.
· POLITICAL shows major cities, interstates, and major highways.
· HISTORICAL recalls the oldest maps on record.
For the purposes of this program, select OUTLINE. A map showing an outline of USA will be displayed.
Step 3. Click CUSTOMIZE on the menu bar down the left side of the screen.
CUSTOMIZE allows you to place custom data on the map you have selected.
1.Click on the button next to the appropriate symbol. For practice, chick on the shovel(铲子), which symbolizes archaeology(考古).
2.Next to the word TEXT, type “The Presidio”, which is an archaeological site near San Francisco.
3.Now use your mouse to click on the spot on the map where you would like this data to be placed.
4.You can add as many sites as you wish.
Step 4. Click SAVE if you would like to save the map to a file. Later, after opening the saved document, click on the map with your right mouse button and select COPY. And then PASTE it at the location where you want the map to appear. 5uIf your report is about Plants and Animals in New York, you may click on map.
A.HISTORICAL | B.SHADED RELIEF |
C.TOPOGRAPHIC | D.POLITICAL |
Which function is required to place a specific location on a CUSTOMIZE map?
A.Clicking on GO. |
B.Cutting and pasting. |
C.Opening the file |
D.Clicking on the map. |
Which of the following orders is true according to the Map Artist Program?
A
An idea that started in Seattle's public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same time.
In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起)the "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book " project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong Kong.
In Chicago, the mayor appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the "One Book, One Chicago" program. As a result, reading clubs and neighbourhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.
The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity can be achieved .Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point, putting all their energy and passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.
Ultimately as Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word.What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?
A.To invite authors to guide readers. |
B.To encourage people to read and share. |
C.To involve people in community service. |
D.To promote the friendship between cities. |
According to the passage, where would the project be more easily carried out?
A.In large communities with little sense of unity |
B.In large cities where libraries are far from home |
C.In medium-sized cities with a diverse population |
D.In large towns where agreement can be quickly reached |
The underlined words “shared a word” in Paragraph 5 probably mean_____.
A.exchanged ideas with each other |
B.discussed the meaning of a word |
C.gave life experience |
D.used the same language |
According to Nancy, the degree of students of the project is judged by ______.
A.the careful selection of a proper book |
B.the growing popularity of the writers |
C.the number of people who benefit from reading. |
D.the number of books that each person reads. |
A generation of parents raised according to the permissive principles of postwar childcare experts is rediscovering the importance of saying "No" to their children.They are beginning to reclaim the house as their own.Even spanking(打屁股)is back.
While today's parents do not want to return to the Victorian era (时代)—when children were seen, spanked, but not heard—there is a growing acknowledgement that the laissez-faire approach produced a generation of children running rings around puzzled parents struggling to restore order.
Janthea Brigden, a trainer with Parent Network, says: " The problem is that parents don't want all that controlling things.What they want is to be able to discipline (管教) their children through teaching and encouraging."
According to Steve Biddulph, the author of More Secrets of Happy Children, the permissive era was often just an excuse to ignore children.He believes discipline involves firm but friendly teaching and does not need to involve punishment.He teaches a method called "stand and think" , where a child is helped to figure out what is wrong and how to get it right.Mr.Biddulph understands parents using spanking, but lie is against it."The happiest children are those who know Mum and Dad are in charge.As children grow into their teens, more negotiation can take place, such as: Prove you can be home safely by 1l pm, and we might let you stay out till midnight."
" There is no good evidence that an occasional, properly administered spanking is harmful in any way." says John Rosemond, an American who has won a huge following by calling for "parent power".It is pure nonsense to believe that restricting children to their room as a punishment could make them have negative feelings about the room and cause sleep problems.
Mr.Rosemond tracks the overturning of traditional family values to the end of the Second World War.He blames the change of the American family into a child-centered, self-respect-oriented (以…为导向) unit on psychologists and social workers, who for 30 years have weakened traditional approaches.Previous generations of American parents raised children not by the book, but by self-evident truth, he says.Children should be seen and hot heard.If you make your bed, you'll have to lie in it.He says that those phrases contain time-honored understanding and principles that helped children to develop what we refer to as the "three Rs" of parenting: respect, responsibility and resourcefulness.Which is closest to the meaning of the underlined word "laissez-faire" in the second paragraph?
A.Let it be. | B.Go for it. |
C.Get it right. | D.Take it easy. |
If his child did something wrong, Steve Biddulph would ______.
A.give him a good beating |
B.lock him up in a dark room |
C.ask him to stand in a corner for hours |
D.help him find out the problem and solution |
By mentioning the underlined part in the last paragraph, Mr.Rosemond .
A.blames parents for ignoring children's rights |
B.reminds parents to communicate more with children |
C.encourages parents to involve children more in family affairs |
D.explains how previous generations of parents raised children |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.The causes of discipline problems. |
B.The best way to discipline children. |
C.Different opinions on ways of parenting. |
D.Differences between parents of different times |