What’s in the box? Let me __________ (猜). Is it a book?
Last month, the artist Christo opened his new art sculpture. It is made up of 7,506 colorful barrels (桶) floating on a lake in Hyde Park in London. Christo calls it The London Mastaba. It is his first major outdoor art sculpture in Great Britain. The artwork is in the shape of a mastaba. It looks somewhat like a pyramid with a fat top. The London Mastaba is about 65 feet high, 98 feet wide and 130 feet long, and it weighs about 1.3 million pounds. The metal barrels can be seen from hundreds of feet away.
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Everyone who looks at it will see something different. Many will think the barrels are barrels of oil in the heart of one of London’s oldest parks. They might wonder if Christo was making an announcement against pollution. Others will see a prism or giant pixels or simply a shape. However, everyone must decide for themselves, the 83-year-old artist said. Christo said he had nothing special in mind when he created The London Mastaba. “There are no messages,” Christo said. “There is something in it to discover yourself. I cannot direct you.”
“A Stairway To The Sky”
“It’s created a giant invitation, like a stairway to the sky,” Christo said. The artist was standing on the banks of the Serpentine Lake in Hyde Park where his artwork floats. Swans are swimming nearby. Some barrels are red with a white candy stripe on the sides. Others are colored blue, purple and red. Their colors will look different as the light changes, Christo said. Their reflection (倒影) in the lake will be like an abstract painting. Abstraction is an artistic style that does not always show something recognizable or realistic.
“Not Really Sure How I Feel About It”
Many people walking in the park were surprised to see the artwork. “It’s very modern, but this place is nature and historical. I don’t like it here,” said Yasmin KocOzcengel, who is a tourist from Turkey. Another person who took a look at the artwork was Anna Andronova. She called The London Mastaba very brave. If it weren’t as brave, it wouldn’t be as amazing, she said. Sheila Seffenson is an American living in London. “I’m just not really sure how I feel about it,” Steffenson said. “Maybe it’s a message about pollution. Who knows?”
1.What can we learn about the artwork?
A.It is a floating pyramid. B.It is made up of empty oil barrels.
C.It is an abstract painting. D.It is considered as different things.
2.Which of the following would be most suitable for________?
A.An Announcement Against Pollution. B.An Announcement Against Pollution?
C.A New Landmark Of The Oldest Park. D.A New Landmark Of The Oldest Park?
3.Which of the following words can best describe The London Mastaba?
A.Romantic. B.Magical. C.Realistic. D.Mysterious.
4.What can most possibly be the artist’s real purpose?
A.To add some more colours to the old park. B.To bring his art career to a new height.
C.To encourage people to discover and think. D.To remind people to care about nature.
“Look at Amy’s picture!” Mom said, too loud. She does that when she’s excite, because she can’t hear herself. Some kids turned to stare at us and I wanted to hide.
I led my family into my classroom and looked around. Other kids and parents were there, but I didn’t see Evelyn.
Ms. Jennings walked over to us. I introduced her to my family and explained that my parents are deaf.
“Oh,” she said. “Well, how do you say ‘Welcome!’ in sign language?”
“Like this.” I swept my open right hand in toward my body, palm (掌心) up.
She repeated the movement.
“Thank you,” Mom said, smiling. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Ms. Jennings looked surprised. “You speak very well,” she said.
In sign language, I repeated what Ms. Jennings had said in case my parents hadn’t read her lips (嘴唇).
Mom nodded. “I lost my hearing as a child, after I’d learned to talk. Amy’s father was born deaf. He can talk, too, but he’s shy about his voice.”
Dad smiled in agreement.
Some of my classmates were watching us and whispering. Then I noticed Evelyn and her mom standing by the door.
“I sit over there,” I told my family and quickly walked toward my desk.
“Hi, Amy,” Evelyn said suddenly.
I turned around. “Hi.”
“I didn’t know your parents are deaf,” she said.
“Yeah.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“And you can talk to them with your hands? That’s so cool.”
“You think so?” I asked. I exhaled with relief.
Evelyn nodded. “It’s like a secret code. Would you teach me some words sometime?”
I smiled. “Of course.”
“One of my dad’s neighbours uses sign,” she said. “Maybe I can surprise her with a greeting next time I visit my dad.”
“Your dad doesn’t live with you?” I said.
She shook her head. “My parents are separated.”
“Oh, I...” I’d been so worried about my family that I hadn’t thought about Evelyn’s family. “Hey, if you come over tomorrow, we can practice some sign language then.”
1 got my parents’ attention. “Mom, Dad,” I said, signing, “I’d like you to meet my friend Evelyn and her mom.”
1.How is Welcome!’ said in sign language?
A.
B.
C.
D.
2.When Amy exhaled with relief, she most probably felt ________.
A.worried B.proud C.relaxed D.nervous
3.What can we infer from the passage about Amy?
A.She learned sign language by herself. B.She didn’t want her parents to come.
C.She won’t share Evelyn’s family secret. D.She won’t be so shy about her family.
NEW word in 2020
Coronavirus is this year’s Children’s Word of the Year. This is very interesting given that the 500 Words competition closed on 27 February 2020, the day before the first case was documented in the UK. This shows the influence of important events around the world on children’s creativity.
Highlights
The word coronavirus appeared for the first time in the 500 Words stories in 2020. It is not a word that has been used before.
The word has been used 459 times in the stories in 2020, with 287 of them as coronavirus, 168 as corona virus, and 4 as corona-virus.
It is amazing that many of the themes young writers explored in fiction soon became a reality with the world in lockdown.
Examples
The nurses came running over. I felt a pain in my neck, I started to gasp for air. My body started shaking I couldn’t control myself. My eyes rolled to the back of my head, a mask covered my mouth, my temperature raised and I have the coronavirus.
(The Ex, girl 13)
A few years later he finally landed on earth ... but when he landed he found out a deadly virus had struck earth, the corona virus ...
(Bob’s Trip Around the Universe, boy 10)
1.This passage is most probably part of ________.
A.a language report B.a science report
C.a book review D.a film review
2.The result is based on the findings from ________.
A.a 2019 survey B.a 2020 survey
C.a 2019 competition D.a 2020 competition
3.What can we learn about the word coronavirus?
A.Most children like the word very much. B.Most children use the word very often.
C.Children first used it in stories this year. D.Children first used it in stories years ago.
1.This is a poster of ________.
A.a sports meeting B.a charity walk
C.a football match D.a women’s race
2.This event will start ________.
A.early in the morning B.late in the morning
C.early in the afternoon D.late in the afternoon
3.If you take part in this event with your parents, the least cost will be ________.
A.105 dollars B.120 dollars C.165 dollars D.360 dollars
I sat in the same seat every day on the school bus, just in front of Jessica and Cory. One day, they asked to see my lunch box. “Wow, it’s really cool,” they said. I couldn’t _______ the two ninth graders liked me that much. They returned my lunch box and thanked me for letting them see it. “Oh, my pleasure,” I said, filled with _______ both inside and out.
When I opened my box at noon, my lunch was gone. The empty box seemed to be _______ at me. I never even tried to think of another possibility. In one single moment, everything made such a painful _______. They were never interested in me, they were not my friends, and this whole time I was some kind of _______ to them. I felt like a fool. That was how they saw me; that’s who I really was. Some little stupid seventh grader thinking she was fitting in with the _______ kids.
I never cried. I never said a word. I didn’t tell the teacher because I didn’t want to get them in trouble. They _______ thought I was stupid. I didn’t want to add “unkind” to the list. I just closed the box and sat in _______ for the rest of the lunch period.
The next morning I tried not to even look to the back seat, which of course I did _______ . It was only Jessica alone. As soon as I sat down in the front seat, someone patted me on the shoulder. It was Jessica. I turned around and ________ a slight smile. “Look,” she said, “I’m so sorry about the lunch thing. Cory has been making a lot of trouble lately and gotten kicked out of school.” With that, Jessica handed me a brown paper bag filled with a freshly made lunch. “Hope this would make up for it.”
1.A.accept B.believe C.expect D.prove
2.A.tricks B.fears C.smiles D.ideas
3.A.shouting B.pointing C.looking D.laughing
4.A.effort B.sense C.cause D.mess
5.A.joke B.star C.wonder D.enemy
6.A.richer B.poorer C.older D.newer
7.A.once B.only C.almost D.already
8.A.silence B.support C.surprise D.success
9.A.anyway B.anytime C.instead D.indeed
10.A.missed B.managed C.refused D.remained
