The Super Bowl is the annual championship game of the National Football League (NFL).The game is the culmination（高潮）to a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. Normally, Roman numerals are used to identify each game, rather than the year in which it is held. For example, Super Bowl I was played on January 15, 1967, following the 1966 regular season. The single exception to this rule is Super Bowl 50, which was played on February 7, 2016, following the 2015 regular season. The next game, Super Bowl LII, scheduled for February 4, 2018, will follow the 2017 regular season.
The game was created as part of a merger(合并) agreement between the NFL and its then rival league, the American Football League (AFL). Currently, the Pittsburgh Steelers have the most Super Bowl victories, with six. The New England Patriots have the most Super Bowl appearances, with nine.
The day (usually the first Sunday in February) on which the Super Bowl is played, now considered as an unofficial American national holiday, is called "Super Bowl Sunday". It is the second-largest day for U.S. food consumption, after Thanksgiving Day. In addition, the seven most-watched broadcasts in U.S. television history are Super Bowls. In 2015, Super Bowl XLIX attracted an audience of 114.4 million.
Because of the high viewership, commercial airtime during the Super Bowl broadcast is the most expensive of the year, leading to companies regularly developing their most expensive advertisements for this broadcast. As a result, watching and discussing the broadcast's commercials has become a significant aspect of the event. In addition, popular singers and musicians including Michael Jackson, Madonna, Prince, Beyonce, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Whitney Houston, and Lady Gaga have performed during the event's pregame and halftime ceremonies.
1.According to the text, in the Super Bowl ________.
A. the New England Patriots have won nine times
B. the Pittsburgh Steelers have won six titles
C. Arabic numerals are used to refer to each game
D. winners of the last season play against each other
2.On Super Bowl Sunday, American people usually ________.
A. buy expensive Super Bowl tickets B. consume the most food of the year
C. avoid the Super Bowl commercials D. enjoy performances by famous artists
3.In 2015, the ________ Super Bowl was held.
A. 46th B. 49th C. 51st D. 55th
4.We can know from the text that the Super Bowl ________.
A. is a public holiday in the United States
B. is the annual championship game of AFL
C. launches a new season of the National Football League every year
D. has frequently been the most watched American television broadcast of the year
Got big plans for Friday night? That's OK, we don't either.
Guess we'll all have to make do by watching the celestial(天空的) show that will take place that night.
First, there will be a full moon. That's always fun, but this one will be a little more special. It's known as a “snow moon.” The name comes from the fact that the heaviest snows usually fall during February, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
But if that's not special enough, there's also an eclipse(月食) that night. It'll be a penumbral lunar eclipse, meaning it’s a partial eclipse that leaves sections of the moon darkened by the earth's shadow. No, it won't be as spectacular as those "blood moon" eclipses, It'll be subtler. The level of darkness it reached during the eclipse may or may not be apparent; it just depends on where you are when you view it.
In North America, the eclipse begins at 5:34 p.m ET and ends at 9:53 p.m. ET, according to astronomy website EarthSky. The eclipse will be at its height around 7:44 p.m.ET.
If that's still not enough, let's throw in a comet（彗星）to the night's festivities.
Comet 45P (it has a much longer name, but we won't burden you with it here) is visible as it flies by Earth. The comet will get within 7.4 million miles of the planet as it makes its closest approach this weekend, according to Universe Today.
Comet 45P will be the most visible a couple of hours after the eclipse, so look to the skies again around 3 a.m.ET Saturday and find the greenish-blue light with a tail.
And don't forget, a total big-time solar eclipse will streak across the United States on August 21st.
1.According to the text, what can be viewed on Friday night?
A. A blood moon. B. A total solar eclipse.
C. A partial lunar eclipse. D. A comet without a tail.
2.If you want to see Comet 45P, you will need to ________.
A. wait around 7:44 p.m.ET B. stay up until 9:53 p.m.ET
C. wake up before 3:00 a.m.ET D. start watching at 5:34 p.m.ET
3.The author writes the text with the purpose of ________.
A. introducing basic astronomy to the media
B. sharing new discoveries with astronomy researchers
C. promoting astronomical events among science students
D. informing average readers of recent celestial phenomena
4.Which can be a suitable title for the text?
A. Comet 45P will be visible as it approaches the earth
B. Penumbral lunar eclipse will happen on Friday night
C. Suggestions of fun scientific exhibitions for the coming weekend
D. Eclipse, full moon, comet team up to put on a show on Friday night
It’s not what you look at that matters;it's what you see.
——Henry David Thoreau
Slow Art Day is a global event with a simple mission: help more people discover for themselves the joy of looking at and loving art.
Why slow?
When people look slowly at a piece of art, they make discoveries. The most important discovery they make is that they can see and experience art without an expert. And that's an exciting discovery. It unlocks passion and creativity and helps to create more art lovers.
How does it work?
One day each year, people all over the world visit local museums and galleries to look at art slowly. Participants look at five works of art for 10 minutes each and then meet together over lunch to talk about their experience. That's it. Simple by design, the goal is to focus on the art. In fact, Slow Art Day works quite well this way.
By the numbers
Over l, 200 individual Slow Art Day events have taken place since its official launch in 2010. Slow Art Day events have taken place on all seven continents.
700 venues (museums, galleries, artist studios, sculpture parks, public art sites. etc.) have hosted Slow Art Day events.
Participants love Slow Art Day
Feedback on this simple event has been overwhelmingly positive. Here's a sample:
“I loved taking the time to just 'be' with the works, particularly pieces I might otherwise walk by. It's a much better way of doing the art museum than the usual idle ramble. Discussion afterwards was fun, interesting, informative and eye-opening. I look forward to doing it again."
Slow Art Day 2017 is Saturday, April 8, in museums and galleries worldwide. Join us and experience art differently.
1.The author quotes Thoreau's words at the beginning to ________.
A. arouse readers' interest in art B. introduce the topic of the text
C. stress the importance of looking D. illustrate the joy of art appreciation
2.A typical slow art activity ________.
A. lasts about fifty minutes when people look at art works critically
B. encourages people to see art for themselves and discuss with experts
C. organizes people to look at art on their own and talk about their experience
D. inspires people to make discoveries about art works and create their own works
3.What can we learn about Slow Art Day from the text?
A. The year of 2017 will see the eighth Slow Art Day.
B. It happens once a year in all museums and galleries worldwide.
C. It has become an art festival celebrated on all seven continents.
D. Slow Art Day events have been held in over l, 200 different places.
4.According to the text, the author ________.
A. has conducted a survey on Slow Art Day
B. strongly recommends Slow Art Day events
C. sees the good and bad sides of Slow Art Day
D. is frequently involved in Slow Art Day events
My doorbell rings at 11 a.m. On the step, I find an elderly Chinese lady. She is small and slight. She holds a paper carrier bag in her hands.
I know this lady. It is by no means her first visit. Her daughter, Nicole, bought the house next door last October. Nicole, who is currently in Shanghai, has apparently told her mother that I am having heart surgery shortly, and the result is that her mother has decided I need to be supplied with meals.
I know what is inside the paper carrier bag-a stainless-steel container with a meal of rice, vegetables and either chicken, meat or shrimp. This has become an almost-daily occurrence.
Communication between my benefactor（恩人）and me is somewhat handicapped by the fact that she doesn't speak English and all I can say in Mandarin is "hello". Once, she brought an iPad and pointed to the screen, which displayed a message from Nicole telling me that her mother wanted to know if the food was all right.
"Your mother just can't be bringing me meals like this all the time," I protested. “I can hardly reciprocate by cooking something from my native land, like roast beef or Yorkshire pudding for her, ”I said.
"Oh, no," Nicole said. "Don't worry about that. She has to cook for the family anyway, and she wants to do it for you. You can call her Wing, which is her surname."
The tenant in my basement suite is a university student who speaks Mandarin quite well, so with her help, I have found out that Wing is 68-13 years younger than I am-and that she lived through the Cultural Revolution. For my part, I was raised in wartime Britain.
So here we are, two grandmothers a world away from where we were raised, neither of us able to speak the other’s language. But the doorbell keeps ringing and there is the familiar paper carrier bag, handed smilingly to me by Wing.
Right now I am working on some more Mandarin words-it's the least I can do after such a display of kindness.
"Thank you" is, of course, the first one, which somehow seems inadequate.
1.The author and Wing got to know each other ________.
A. as next door neighbors B. when exchanging meals
C. by sharing similar experiences D. after using an iPad to communicate
2.The underlined word "reciprocate" in Paragraph 5 probably means ________.
A. do as well B. offer generously C. give in return D. accept with pleasure
3.The author's effort to learn Mandarin shows her ________.
A. great satisfaction B. real kindness C. heartfelt thanks D. sincere friendship
假设你是李华，你的英国朋友Tom在邮件中告诉你，他通过观看BBC记录片《中国春节》，初步了解了中国文化和习俗。Tom希望了解更多有关中国人庆祝其他传统节日及接受西方节日的情况。请给Tom回信，内容包括：
1.中国人庆祝其他重大传统节日的情况，如，清明节、端午节或中秋节等；
2.年轻人接受西方节日的情况；
3.你自己的感想。
参考词汇：Tomb-sweeping Day清明节
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯：
3.开头语已为你写好。
Dear Tom,
Glad to know that you've learned something about Chinese culture and customs.Now I'd like to tell you more that might interest you.
Yours,
Li Hua
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第1l处起）不计分。
Dear Sir, I am a student from the near school. Here I want to report the environmental situation for you. There used to many green trees and all kind of flowers in our school all the year round. The school looks like a beautiful garden and we had a clean studying environment. And everything has changed since your chemical factory was built a year before. Every day it produces lots of waste water and harm gases. The terrible pollution has been done great harm to our health. We all expect you factory can take measures to stop the pollution soon.
