Train-spotting
Many people around the world have seen Danny Boyle’s movie Train spotting starring Ewan McGregor, but how many of us really know what train-spotting is all about? Now this is not considered cool in town and the word “train-spotter” in Britain is related to “geek” or “nerd” (someone who seems very ridiculous). But is this reputation really deserved?
First of all, let’s see what train-spotting is. It is said that there are some 100,000 train spotters in the UK. Exactly as the title suggests, they spot trains, that is, they stand in train stations, look at the number of each train that leaves and arrives and write it down. The eventual aim is to have seen every train in the country.
Being crazy about railways and trains is not modern and it dates back to 1804. As the number of trains grew and they got faster and faster, so did the interest in them grow? Is this any stranger than people who love cars?
So, what do you need to be a train-spotter? Well, all you really need is a pen or pencil and a notebook to write down the train numbers. Other equipment(装备) includes hot tea in a thermos, a camera and some sandwiches for those long afternoons spent on train platforms when you don’t want to risk the delights of railway station food.
It’s interesting to note that despite the “bad name” of train-spotting, there have been famous railway lovers in history, such as Alfred Hitchcock, who filmed them regularly, especially The 39 Steps. There is evidence, too, that being a train-spotter is not necessarily a strange phenomenon（现象）in Britain.
One glance at the US train stations should be enough to convince you that train-spotters there are alive and well. In America, they try to call rail lovers “train-fans” and talk of “train-fanning”. Don’t let this fool you—these people are train spotters and there are a lot of them. Each month, two million pages are visited on the website TrainWeb.org.
340words
1.What is train-spotting according to the passage?
A. A kind of hobby. B. A type of sport.
C. A strange phenomenon. D. A special job.
2.Which of the following about train-spotters is true according to the passage?
A. They number each train they see.
B. They keep a careful path of every train.
C. They count the trains passing in front of them.
D. They produce films about trains with video cameras.
3.The writer writes the passage to .
A. introduce some famous train-spotters
B. encourage readers to do more train-spotting
C. try to present a true picture of train-spotting
D. describe the necessary equipment in train-spotting
4. What do we learn from the passage?
A. Train-spotters in the UK want to fool people.
B. Train-spotting is more acceptable in America.
C. Train-spotters are much stranger than car lovers.
D. Train-spotting relates to（与…有关）a dangerous lifestyle.
My name is Lin Hui. I like to tell stories about people who work together. What is even better is when countries help each other and build a good friendship. An excellent example of this happened when Britain and China worked together to bring the Milu deer back to China.
Milu deer, a kind of animal with large horns(角), used to be common in China long ago. Like other deer they lived together and ate grass and the soft parts of trees. Milu deer were often killed for food or sport. The Ming and Qing dynasties(朝代) did not protect them and many were killed. That is how the Milu deer disappeared from China.
Luckily before all of them were killed, some were taken to Britain to improve the environment of the beautiful park which belonged to the Duke of Bedford. He liked them so much that he took them from China to Britain. Milu deer liked the cool, wet weather in England and their number increased year by year. As a result, when in 1985 the government of China wanted to bring back the Milu deer, the Duke of Bedford was able to help. The first deer came back to China to the Nanhaizi Milu Park 20 kilometers south of Beijing and the centre in Dafeng, Jiangsu province.
The deer certainly seem happy to be back in China because their number has grown quickly. There are now so many of them that a new park has been opened for them in Hubei Province. At the moment the Milu deer live in centres where they are being well protected and cared for. It is hoped that one day there will be enough animals to let them live in the wild again.
294words
1.The Milu deer disappeared long ago in China because .
A. they were not well protected B. they could find nothing to eat
C. they died of a serious disease D. they had the habit of living together
2. After some of the Milu deer were taken to Britain, .
A. people used them to carry things
B. the Duke of Beford sold them all
C. they didn’t like the weather there
D. their number became larger and larger
3.What’s the best title of the passage?
A. The number of the Mulu deer. B. The life of the Milu deer.
C. The return of the Milu deer. D. The importance of the Milu deer.
Read how Sofia writes a composition.
|
|
|
|
|
|
1.The weekend before she has to give it to the teacher, she sits on her own in the kitchen. First, she looks at the title and thinks a lot.
|
2.Then she writes a few ideas onto a piece of paper, in no particular order. She looks up a couple of words in the dictionary and writes those down. |
3.Then she has a sandwich and goes to watch TV.
|
4.The next day she looks at what she wrote. She adds some more ideas. Then she decides how to order her ideas. She starts to write. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
5.There are some words she’s not sure about so she looks them up in her dictionary. |
6.When she has finished writing, she reads carefully through her composition. She crosses some things out and changes one or two sentences. |
7.Then she looks back at her notes from other written work. She makes sure she hasn’t made any of the same mistakes. |
8.Finally, she writes out her composition onto a clean piece of paper and puts it in her bag. |
180words
1.What does Sofia do first before she writes the composition?
A. She looks at the title and thinks a lot.
B. She has a sandwich and goes to watch TV.
C. She writes a few ideas onto a piece of paper.
D. She looks up a couple of words in the dictionary.
2.When she meets some words she’s not sure, .
A. she writes them down B. she looks back at her notes
C. she crosses some things out D. she looks them up in the dictionary
3.From the passage we can know Sofia is a .
A. driver B. doctor C. student D. parent
These four ads are for four children’s books. They talk about the writers, prices, sizes and so on of the books.
|
Alfie’s Angels Henriette Barkow Ages 8-12 Pictures by Sarah Garson Alfie wants to be an angel（天使） because angels can do anything! But his teacher has other ideas. She thinks Alfie wants to look cool. ￡7.50 21.5 cm x 27cm Languages : English and French |
That’s My Mum Henriette Barkow Ages 8-12 Pictures by Derek Brazell People often think that Mia’s mum is not her mother because they don’t like each other. Mia doesn’t want people to think that. Mia and her friend Kai decide to do something about this. ￡6.50 21.5 cm x 27cm Languages : English and Chinese |
|
What Is Peace Emma Damon Ages 4-6 Peace is giving…not taking. Peace is love…not hate. And peace is many more things… ￡5.99 19 cm x 21cm Languages : English and Japanese |
Farmer Duck Martin Waddell Ages 6-8 Pictures by Helen Oxenbury There was a duck. It lived with a lazy farmer. While the duck worked, the farmer lay in bed. One day the other animals decided to do something for the duck. ￡8.50 28 cm x 23cm Languages : English and Korean |
198 words
1. Why does Alfie want to be an angel?
A. Because angels can fly. B. Because angels can do anything.
C. Because angels look like each other. D. Because angels are cool.
2. How much is What Is Peace?
A. ￡7.50. B. ￡6.50. C. ￡5.99. D. ￡8.50.
3.Andy is a Korean boy. Which book can he read?
A. Alfie’s Angels. B. That’s My Mum.
C. What Is Peace. D. Farmer Duck.
阅读短文，根据上下文意思，将方框中的句子还原到短文中适当位置。其中有一个多余选项。
Liz was excited. She was going to Asia with her mom. Neither of them had ever travelled out of the United States before. They were going to fly to Hong Kong. 1. , they would travel to Shanghai and Beijing.
"Beijing is inland. 2. . I forget the name of the port. Anyway, we're going to see the Great Wall, the Tiananmen Square, and the Forbidden City. It's going to be so cool!" she told her neighbor Jane.
From China,they would go to Japan. From Japan, they would catch a flight back to Los Angeles.
" 3.. It's only going to cost us $2,800 each, IF we don’t shop a lot," she laughed.
"I hope your trip is more fun than mine was," said Jane. "I travelled to the Bahamas on a large ship. 4. . I stayed in bed for almost three days. "
"We've heard about those ," said Liz. "I’m sure Mom and I will have a happy holiday."
People cannot reach an agreement on the use of science and technology. For example, will radiation from electronic equipment destroy the environment? Should medical scientists change gene structures to prevent genetic disease or to create “more perfect” human beings? While people are arguing about these and others, technology continues to influence our everyday lives—the home, health and education, entertainment and communication, and so on.
Some people carry on active social lives with computers —their own or the ones in public places like cafes, social centers, libraries, and so on. Communicating with others in chat rooms, computer users can get to know people they might never meet in traditional ways. With live online video connections, two people with cameras in their computers can see and talk to each other from separate places.
With modern telephone technology, most people stopped writing lettters—especially personal letters and notes. But now, writing to communicate has returned in electronic form, or e-mail, which is a way of sending messages from one computer to another. For some computer users, the wish to communicate intelligently or creatively with others makes them want to write better.
Computer technology has also made it possible to run a house electronically. From turning lights on and off to starting the coffee and cooking the hot meal, computers are taking care of people at home. Many modern machines have computer chips that allow their owners to program them. For instance, you can “instruct” a microwave oven how to cook a dish. Most entertainment equipment operates with computer technology too. Computers can even start cars automatically so that on cold winter mornings you can get into a warmed-up vehicle and drive off.
Although much of the technology in our everyday lives has good effects, there are some uses that raise questions. For example, are interactive media ( i.e., a combination of television, telephone, and computer) going to control minds, cause people to forget about family life and personal relationships? What effects will the genentic engineering of food have on people’s health? High-tech medical treatments can make a person live a much longer life, but can they improve the health and happiness of human beings? Only time will tell, but, in the meantime, science and technology will continue to move forward.
1. What does the underlined word “ chips” mean?
A. thin pieces of potatoes B. small holes C. small pieces of wood D. central parts
2.We can know from the passage that _________.
A. technology never stops changing our everyday lives
B. with computers each of us can live a comfortable life
C. people can do more activities with computers
D. the more you use computers, the better you might write
3.What can we infer from the underlined sentence in the last paragraph?
A. The longer you live, the happier you are.
B. High-tech medical treatments can’t improve our health and happiness.
C. High-tech medical treatments can’t help us with everything.
D.The writer questioned high-tech medical treatments somehow.
4.What is the best title for the passage?
A. Science and New Technology B. Computers Change Our Lives
C. Everyday Uses of Technology D. Only Time Will Tell
