When my friend went to Europe last summer, instead of snapping photographs of the Louvre or the Eiffel Tower or Stonehenge, she brought back 32 rolls of ... Cathedral(大教堂的) ceilings. Ceilings. For the 10 years I’ve known her I had never suspected that she was this passionate about stained glass.
Still one of the best things about such pictures — despite their obvious narrow appeal — is that they can’t help but tell us a great deal about the people who took them.
So I shouldn’t have been surprised when I got the roll of film back from my 5-year-old son’s first camping trip. I opened the envelope, naively expecting to see pictures of the nightly campfire, the sun setting over the forest, and possibly even a deer or two.
Instead, I saw an off-center picture of tennis shoes. Not even his tennis shoes, mind you, but a pair someone had lost and left in the cabin. Mystery shoes. And that’s not all.
As I went through the stack, I found that my son had also taken a picture of his sleeping bag, a penny he found in the gravel next to the car, a leaf, an orange sock, a close-up of his father’s ear, a burned hot dog, his thumb, a piece of gum, and many other similar things.
There was barely one sign of nature in the whole stack. I couldn’t help thinking that if he’d wanted pictures of assorted junk, it would’ve been cheaper had he spent the weekend in our back-yard.
AT LEAST that is what I thought until I showed the photographs to my ceiling-snapping friend, the mother of three teenagers, who said simply, “There’s nothing wrong with these.”
But of course, this is just the type of answer you’d expect from someone who photographs ceiling.
Then she told me about the time her daughter went to Yosemite Valley and returned with rolls of photographs of the hotel, restaurant, and gift shop. She also told me about the time her son took his camera to a Major League Baseball game and returned with 24 pictures of cloud formations.
I had a feeling she was just trying to make me feel better.
Then again, to a 5-year-old boy, finding a penny is more exciting than seeing a squirrel. And why would he waste good film on something like, say, some endangered water buffaloes, when he could take a picture of cool tennis shoes? Or his shiny new green sleeping bag?
Face it: Things like beautiful sunsets and campfires can’t compare to a bag of extra-large marshmallow.
So I did what any good mother would do: I marked the date on the back of the pictures and slid them into our family vacation photo album — right after the five pages of ice sculptures I took last year on our cruise to the Bahamas.
1.Who might have taken a picture of the back seat of the family car in his or her trip mentioned in this passage?
A. The author’s friend.
B. The author’s son.
C. The author.
D. The author’s friend’s daughter.
2.The author changed her mind on her son’s picture taking because______ .
A. her friend persuaded her to do so
B. her son’s pictures finally struck her
C. she realized the truth by herself inspired by the surrounding examples
D. it suddenly occurred to her that she herself had also taken unique pictures before
3.What can we infer from this passage?
A. Different people perceive the world from different angles, which may vary according to their age, gender, life experiences and so on.
B. The author’s friend is a better mum in terms of educating children.
C. The author will educate her son to take pictures of nature instead of some boring things.
D. The author will take vacation pictures of different kind from her past ones.
In today’s China, exchanges between Chinese and English-speakers are increasingly frequent. English skills are important to Chinese if China wishes to play a stronger role on the world stage. However, the general English level of the Chinese people is on the decline.
China’s ranking in the 2015 EF English Proficiency Index dropped 10 drops. It was ranked 47th out of 70 countries rated, and is now similar to several Latin American countries. The report triggered widespread discussion in China：in an increasingly international nation, why is the peoples’ level of English getting worse?
A decline in the English level of the Chinese people is no accident. With China’s exam-based education system, worsening English is unavoidable. English education in China is too focused on grammar and ignored oral practice. This results in students often being too scared to speak, for fear of making a mistake. Exam-based courses lead to the problem that students merely learn for the test, not learn the language.
In Latin America, nations do not have a rigorous exam system for English, but focus on promoting the language itself. Such programs that promote English include Chile’s “English Opens Doors,” program, Panama’s “Panama Bilingual Education Program,” and Mexico’s “10 Million People Plan.” Brazil, which also has a government program, is ranked first in the region for English.
The Chinese government should first think about how to reduce the amount of pressure on students taking exams in order to promote change in the current system of rote English education. This is the most important step.
Everyone has been recently focused on overseas returnees. The number of Chinese studying abroad has rapidly multiplied in past years. At the same time, the number of overseas returnees is increasing as well. The job market is also increasingly competitive for them and it is often more difficult for returnees to find a suitable job than it is for domestic graduates.
Difficulties and pressure in the job market for overseas returnees discourages a number of Chinese from studying abroad. As a result, the number of Chinese with high-level English, carefully perfected abroad, has been reduced. This could be a major reason for why English is getting worse overall in China.
While China’s overall level of English has declined, it has not affected China’s huge emphasis on English education and training. China remains one of the nations that is most committed to the study of English.
1.What does the writer want to do with this article?
A. To advise the Chinese government to reform its exam-based education.
B. To analyze the reasons why China’s general English level is on the decline.
C. To report the phenomenon that there is a decline in English level of Chinese people.
D. To compare the different ways of learning English between China and Latin America.
2.Which statement is FALSE according to the passage?
A. Nations in Latin America has carried out some programs to promote the English language itself.
B. China has a rigorous exam system focusing on English grammar while ignoring oral practice.
C. The major reason why there is a decline of Chinese people’s English level is that the Chinese government no longer lays emphasis on English education and training.
D. In China, due to the competitive job job market these days, it’s often easier for domestic graduates to find a suitable job than overseas returnees.
3.What measure can help improve English level of Chinese people?
A. Stopping testing English in the educational examination system.
B. Reducing the amount of pressure on students studying English.
C. Encouraging more students to study in Latin American countries.
D. Focusing more on expressive abilities and less on grammatical exams.
完形填空
阅读下面短文掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
William Wordsworth wrote that “the human mind is capable of excitement without the application of violent stimulants(刺激)”. And it appears that simply reading those words proves his __________ .
Researchers at the University of Liverpool found the works of Shakespeare and Wordsworth and __________ had a beneficial effect on the mind. It can __________ the reader’s attention and trigger(触发) moments of self-reflection.
Using scanners, they __________ the brain activity of volunteers as they read pieces of classical English literature both in their __________ form and in a modern translation.
And, according to the Sunday Telegraph, the experiment showed the more __________ prose(散文) and poetry __________ far more electrical activity in the brain than the easier versions.
The research also found poetry, __________, increased activity in the right part of the brain, an area __________ with “autobiographical(自传式的) memory”, which helped the reader to __________ on their own experiences. The researchers said this meant the __________were more useful than self-help books.
The brain __________ of 30 volunteers were watched in the first part of the research as they read Shakespeare in different __________ .
In one example, volunteers read a line from King Lear, “A father and a gracious aged man: him have you madded”, before reading the __________ version: “A father and a gracious aged man: him you have annoyed”. Shakespeare’s use of “mad” as a(n) __________caused a higher level of brain activity than the straightforward prose.
The next stage of the research was looking at the__________ to which poetry could affect __________ and provide therapeutic(治疗的) benefit. Volunteers’ brains were scanned while reading four lines by Wordsworth, and four “translated” lines were also provided.
The first version caused more brain activity, __________ not only the left part of the brain connected with language, but also the right part that relates to autobiographical memory and emotion.
“Poetry is not just a __________ of style. It is also about deep versions of experience that __________ the emotional to the cognitive(认知的),” said Prof Davis, who will present the findings at the North of England education conference in Sheffield this week.
1.A. point B. attitude C. mind D. advice
2.A. the way B. the like C. the likely D. the kind
3.A. break B. focus C. catch D. fix
4.A. participated B. interrupted C. monitored D. controlled
5.A. original B. traditional C. conventional D. ancient
6.A. attractive B. beneficial C. challenging D. emotional
7.A. call off B. put off C. take off D. set off
8.A. for example B. on occasion C. in particular D. in contrast
9.A. mixed B. concerned C. fixed D. conflicted
10.A. reflect B. agree C. depend D. take
11.A. average B. modern C. classic D. academic
12.A. records B. responses C. recalls D. receptions
13.A. moods B. manners C. forms D. times
14.A. shorter B. simpler C. better D. deeper
15.A. adjective B. noun C. adverb D. verb
16.A. extension B. degree C. amount D. scale
17.A. philosophy B. biology C. sociology D. psychology
18.A. raising up B. waking up C. taking up D. making up
19.A. matter B. mark C. manner D. mass
20.A. prefer B. add C. cater D. refer
– I’d like to have one more look around. By myself this time.
-- __________.
A. There you go B. Be my guest
C. Count me out D. Drop me a line
– Where are my new sneakers? Have you seen them?
-- How __________ I know? I’m your sister, not your servant.
A. shall B. should C. will D. might
Market economy is a competitive economy, _________ I think, suppliers, producers and dealers should obey market rules and develop cooperative relation based on mutual benefits.
A. that B. which C. where D. how
