Throughout the history of the arts, the nature of creativity has remained constant to artists. No matter what objects they select, artists are to bring forth new forces and forms that cause change-to find poetry where no one has ever seen or experienced it before.
Landscape(风景) is another unchanging element of art. It can be found from ancient times through the 17th-century Dutch painters to the 19th-century romanticists and impressionists. In the 1970s Alfred Leslie, one of the new American realists, continued this practice. Leslie sought out the same place where Thomas Cole, a romanticist, had produced paintings of the same scene a century and a half before. Unlike Cole who insists on a feeling of loneliness and the idea of finding peace in nature, Leslie paints what he actually sees. In his paintings, there is no particular change in emotion, and he includes ordinary things like the highway in the background. He also takes advantage of the latest developments of color photography(摄影术) to help both the eye and the memory when he improves his painting back in his workroom.
Besides, all art begs the age-old question: What is real? Each generation of artists has shown their understanding of reality in one form or another. The impressionists saw reality in brief emotional effects, the realists in everyday subjects and in forest scenes, and the Cro-Magnon cave people in their naturalistic drawings of the animals in the ancient forests. To sum up, understanding reality is a necessary struggle for artists of all periods.
Over thousands of years the function of the arts has remained relatively constant. Past or present, Eastern or Western, the arts are a basic part of our immediate experience. Many and different are the faces of art, and together they express the basic need and hope of human beings.
1.The underlined word “poetry” most probably means __________.
A. an object for artistic creation B. a collection of poems
C. an unusual quality D. a natural scene
2.Leslie's paintings are extraordinary because.
A. they are close in style to works in ancient times
B. they look like works by 19th-century painters
C. they draw attention to common things in life
D. they depend heavily on color photography
3. What is the author's opinion of artistic reality?
A. It will not be found in future works of art.
B. It does not have a long-lasting standard.
C. It is expressed in a fixed artistic form.
D. It is lacking in modern works of art.
4. What does the author suggest about the arts in the last paragraph?
A. They express people's curiosity about the past.
B. They make people interested in everyday experience.
C. They are considered important for variety in form.
D. They are regarded as a mirror of the human situation.
5. Which of the following is the main topic of the passage?
A. History of the arts.
B. Basic questions of the arts.
C. New developments in the arts.
D. Use of modern technology in the arts.
When a first-time father saw his newborn son, he immediately noticed the baby's ears obviously standing out from his head. He expressed his concern to the nurse that some children might tease his child. A doctor examined the baby and reassured the new dad that his son was healthy- the ears presented only a minor problem with its appearance.
But the nervous father persisted. He wondered if the child might suffer psychological effects of ridicule, or if they should consider plastic surgery. The nurse assured him that it was really no problem, and he should just wait to see if the boy grows into his ears.
The father finally felt more optimistic about his child, but now he worried about his wife's reaction to those large ears. She had been delivered by operation, and had not yet seen the child.
“She doesn't take things as easily as I do,” he said to the nurse.
By this time, the new mother was settled in the recovery room and ready to meet her new baby. The nurse went along with the dad to lend some support in case this inexperienced mother became upset about her baby's large ears.
The baby was in a receiving blanket with his head covered for the short trip through the cold air-conditioned corridor. The baby was placed in his mother's arms, who eased the blanket back so that she could look at her child for the first time.
She took one look at her baby's face and looked to her husband and gasped, “Oh, Honey! Look! He has your ears!”
No problem with Mom. She married those ears...and she loves the man to whom they are attached.
The poet Kahlil Gibran said, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” It's hard to see the ears when you're looking into the light.
1.When the father first saw his baby, he was worried that________.
A. The baby might not grow up healthily
B. The baby might be laughed at by others.
C. The baby might disappoint its mother
D. the baby might have mental problems.
2.According to the doctor and nurse, the baby’s ears________.
A. could not function well. B. looked the same as others.
C. only caused a small problem. D. needed to have plastic surgery.
3. What is true about the baby’s mother?
A. She blamed her husband for the baby’s big ears.
B. She was the first to discover the baby’s large ears.
C. She suggested having an operation on the baby immediately.
D. She found something similar between the baby and its father.
4. What does the underlined word they refer to?
A. The ears. B. The parents
C. The doctor and nurse. D. The problems
5. What’s the function of the last paragraph?
A. To advise readers to listen carefully.
B. To draw a conclusion from the story.
C. To criticize the wrong attitude to physical beauty.
D. To stress the importance of doctor-patient relationship.
Most students try to learn English grammar using grammar textbooks. They study grammar rules and take grammar tests. They use an analytical approach, attempting to memorize, and then apply, a great number of rules.
However, research has proved this method inefficient and ineffective. The truth is, the human brain simply cannot consciously remember process and use hundreds of or thousands of grammar rules. Real speech is too fast.
Native speakers do not learn grammar in this way, but rather intuitively (凭直觉地) and unconsciously. They learn in a complete way, not by attempting to memorize individual grammar rules. As a result, native speakers use correct grammar fluently and easily.
Fortunately, it is possible for English learners to learn grammar this way. Language teacher Blaine Ray has developed a unique "intuitive" approach to teach English grammar. Her system uses "point of view" stories to teach the patterns of English grammar, allowing students unconsciously to acquire correct grammar without ever studying grammar rules.
In this system, the teacher first tells a simple story from one point of view. It may be told about the past, then repeated, but beginning with "since he was a child"; then repeated again, but this time about the future.
Listening to these stories allows students intuitively and effortlessly to learn English grammar and makes them be able to use it correctly when they speak.
Point of View Stories is a creative new way to study English grammar, and offers hope to millions of frustrated English learners.
1.Which of the following ways is approved by the author?
A. Remembering grammar rules
B. Taking grammar tests.
C. Analyzing grammatical structure
D. Applying language to situations.
2.What does the underlined part "this way" in the fourth paragraph refer to?
A. Talking to native speakers when learning.
B. Learning English grammar in a complete way.
C. Using correct English grammar.
D. Learning English grammar 4from a teacher.
3.From this passage we learn that ______.
A. native speakers learn English grammar by listening to stories
B. Blaine Ray’s method gets students to grasp correct grammar unconsciously
C. Blaine Ray teaches grammar rules by asking students to tell stories
D. it’s hard for students to speak correct English in the new system
4. This passage wants to ______.
A. criticize the traditional way of learning grammar
B. introduce a new way to study English grammar
C. ask students to learn English grammar by listening to stories
D. tell us how the native speakers learn English grammar
5.why shouldn’t the English learners use an analytical approach?
A. because the analytical approach can let them learn English grammar effortlessly
B. because the analytical approach makes them be able to use English correctly when they speak.
C. because the analytical approach can’t let them memorize and then apply a great number of rules.
D. because Real speech is too fast.
Societies all over the world name places in similar ways. Quite often there is no official naming ceremony but places tend to be called names as points of reference by people. Then an organized body steps in and gives the place a name. Frequently it happens that a place has two names: One is named by the people and the other by the government. As in many areas, old habits died hard, and the place continues to be called by its unofficial name long after the meaning is lost.
Many roads and places in Singapore（新加坡）are named in order that the pioneers will be remembered by future generations. Thus we have names such as Stamford Road and Raffles Place. This is in keeping with traditions in many countries ---- in both the West and the East.
Another way of naming places is naming them after other places. Perhaps they were named to promote friendships between the two places or it could be that the people who used to live there were originally from the places that the roads were named after. The mystery is clearer when we see some of the roads named in former British bases. If you step into Selector Airbase you will see Piccadilly Circus ---- obviously named by some homesick Royal Air Force personnel.
Some places were named after the activities that used to go on at those places. Bras Basah Road is an interesting example, “Base Basah” means “wet rice” in Malay（马来语）. Now why would anyone want to name a road “Wet Rice Road”? The reason is simple. During the pioneering days, wet rice was laid out to dry along this road.
A few roads in Singapore are named by their shapes. There is “Circular Road” for one. Other roads may have part of their names to describe their shapes, like “Paya Lebar Crescent”. This road is called a crescent（月牙） because it begins on the main road, makes a crescent and comes back to join the main road again.
1.We learn from Paragraph 1 that _____.
A. the government is usually the first to name a place
B. many places tend to have more than one name
C. a ceremony will be held when a place is named
D. people prefer the place names given by the government
2.What does the underlined phrase “die hard” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?
A. Change suddenly. B. Change significantly.
C. Disappear mysteriously. D. Disappear very slowly.
3.Which of the following places is named after a person?
A. Raffles Place. B. Selector Airbase.
C. Piccadilly Circus. D. Paya Lebar Crescent.
4.Bras Basah Road is named _______.
A. after a person B. after a place C. after an activity D. by its shape
5.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Some place names in Singapore are the same as in Britain.
B. Some places in Singapore are named for military purposes.
C. The way Singaporeans name their places is unique.
D. Young Singaporeans have forgotten the pioneers.
A successful scientist is generally a good observer. He makes full 36 of the facts he observes. He doesn’t accept ideas which are not 37 on obvious facts, and therefore refuses to accept authority as the only 38 for truth. He always 39 ideas carefully and makes experiments to prove them.
The rise of 40 science may perhaps be considered to 41 as far back as the 42 of Roger Bacon, the wonderful philosopher of Oxford, who live 43 the years 1214 and 1292. He was probably the first in the Middle 44 to suggest that we must learn science 45 observing and experimenting on the things around us, and he himself 46 many important discoveries.
Galileo, however, who lived more than 300 years later (1564-1642), was the greatest of several great men, 47 in Italy, France, Germany, or England, began by 48 to show how many important 49 could be discovered by observation. Before Galileo, learned men believed that large bodies fell more 50 towards the earth than small ones, 51 Aristotle said so. But Galileo, going to the 52 of the leaning Tower of Pisa, let fall two 53 stones and proved Aristotle was wrong. It was Galileo’s 54 of going direct to Nature, and proving our 55 and theories by experiment, that has led to all the discoveries of modern science.
1.A.use B.time C.speed D.trust
2.A.worked B.based C.lived D.written
3.A.reason B.cause C.advice D.result
4.A.thinks B.checks C.has D.learn
5.A.natural B.physical C.ancient D.modern
6.A.date B.keep C.look D.take
7.A.study B.time C.year D.birth
8.A.both B.each C.between D.among
9.A.Schools B.Ages C.Days D.Count
10.A.in B.with C.on D.by
11.A.did B.made C.took D.gave
12.A.who B.when C.that D.where
13.A.ways B.degrees C.levels D.chance
14.A.truths B.problems C.people D.subjects
15.A.slowly B.rapidly C.lightly D.heavily
16.A.although B.because C.when D.If
17.A.place B.foot C.top D.ceiling
18.A.big B.small C.equal D.unequal
19.A.spirit B.skill C.theory D.discovery
20.A.plans B.opinions C.world D. ability
I haven’t read ____ of the articles carefully, but I find that there is a striking similarity between them.
A. each B. either C. any D. both
