Earlier this year, artist Malik was about to post a selfie (自拍照）from the Brooklyn Bridge when he had the second thought. He wanted to share something different with his friends and the world.
Malik thought that the social media (媒体）had become impersonal and he wanted to connect with people in a more meaningful way. Therefore, the Reading Project was born. He began leaving piles of his books in famous New York City locations with a card containing simple instructions put inside each one: take a book, read it and share your thoughts with the artist by email.
The piles of books themselves can be seen as works of art, and so is the process (过程）of sharing. Unlike many of the things we share today, he likes to keep the project off social media. To keep the project pure (纯的），he doesn’t even turn around as he walks away once he has left a pile of books. When he has left them behind, he prefers email to be the only way that he learns what happens to them. The project has now taken him — and his books — all over the world, including London.
“I hope people pick them up and I also hope they read them and let me know their feelings on them. And even if they don't let me know, I just hope they will read the books，” Malik said.
He has received thousands of messages from people in more than 30 countries all over the world. For Malik, kooks are meaningless and lifeless if they gather dust(灰尘）on a shelf and are never read again. He intends to carry on with the project for some time，with a plan to visit Brazil and then decides whether he will continue it or not.
Most of all, lie loves the connection the books give him with strangers across the world， which is something that oilier posts could never achieve,
1.What hit Malik when he intended to post a selfie?
A.His selfie being not very attractive for a long time.
B.That social media made people close to each other.
C.His thoughts that it should be shared with more people.
D.That a new way could be used to connect with the world,
2.Why does Malik prefer others to connect with him by email?
A.He isn’t good at talking with people face to face.
B.It is a quick way to know what happens.
C.He doesn't want to be troubles by social media.
D.He thinks people needn’t know the process of sharing.
3.What can we infer about Malik's project from the text?
A.It won’t last long for a lack of books.
B.It was first started on Brooklyn Bridge.
C.It has improved the relation among strangers.
D.It has proved to be helpful to connect with others.
4.What is the best title for this text?
A.Read Books Offered by Malik
B.Connecting with Strangers by Sharing Books
C.Change the Relationship with Strangers
D.Make Meaningless Books Meaningful
At this selection of five museums, more French will be heard and visitors might feel a sense of satisfaction when knowing they have arrived at a place that native Parisians also enjoy when going on a trip.
Museum of Natural History
Being a must-see place in the museum at present, the Grand Gallery of Evolution dates back to the 1880s. Playing as a zoology building in the past, it reopened to the public in 1994. The entire museum exhibits more than 9,000 preserved(保存）animals and insects.
Museum of Music
The museums collection covers centuries of European classical music and instruments, with decorated pianos and hundreds of horns and string instruments. Live performances take place in the galleries of the museum every day. The museum provides two versions (版本）of its English-language audio (声音的）guide, one for children and the other for adults.
Fairground Art Museum
At this museum, guides describe the history of Europe’s traveling fairs and explain signs (符号）that identify the beginning of the country with a carousel horse (旋转木马）.Book your tickets ahead of time on the museum’s website. Tours in French are offered several days a week all year round，and English -language tours are offered in the summer months.
Museum of Arts and Crafts
It was founded during the French Revolution to show its advanced (先进的）science and technologies and has since received several updates (更新）.Early planes，including the first to cross the English Channel, hang from the ceiling of one building. The collection has different exhibitions, with ancient cars, early engines and elements (元素)used in the building of the Statue of Liberty.
1.What do we know about the Grand Gallery of Evolution?
A.It was once closed to the public.
B.It was first built 25 years ago.
C.It studies all kinds of wildlife in nature.
D.It shows several thousand kinds of animals.
2.What suggestion is given to visitors to the Fairground Art Museum?
A.Choose a proper guide for your travel.
B.Learn some French before your travel.
C.Know the history of France ahead of time.
D.Book tickets beforehand at proper time.
3.What can we infer about the Museum of Arts and Crafts?
A.It keeps many old collections.
B.It still keeps its original look.
C.It's a museum about art and culture.
D.It only provides French-speaking guides.
请认真阅读下文信息，并按要求用英语写一篇150词左右的文章。
A new regulation by China’s Ministry of Education aims to grant primary and middle school teachers more room in punishing their students in order to achieve better teaching results.
The regulation lists punishments available to teachers in three categories based on the level of severity of the offense, including naming and shaming, forced standing that lasts no longer than one class session, and suspension of class for no longer than one week.
Zhang Lifeng, a 43-year-old parent, welcomed the move. “The regulation should have come earlier,” she said. “It will benefit both teachers and students as well as parents.”
However, a ninth grader at a middle school, disagreed. “It is normal for adolescent students to make mistakes. I don’t think punishments are necessary. They may cause more trouble,” he said.
Chen Xianzhe, a professor with the School of Education at South China Normal University, said punishments are just a part of the teaching process.
The regulation asks schools to draft their own regulations accordingly to clarify the rules for teachers in taking disciplinary actions against their students.
（写作内容）
1、用约30个单词概括上述信息的主要内容；
2、谈谈你如何看待教育惩戒，并简述理由；
3、请你对教育惩戒规则的实施提出合理建议(至少两点)。
（写作要求）
1、写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句；
2、作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称；
3、不必写标题。
（评分标准）
内容完整，语言规范，语篇连贯，词数适当
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请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
This is a stranger truth that anyone older than 25 will already know: as life goes on, time seems to speed up. Think back to childhood when holidays seemed to last forever and you attended a school for what felt like decades. Now consider last year, by contrast, and it probably raced by. As those in their 30s and 40s will know, the effect gets worse with age—and, for people in their 70s, a year can flash by in what seems like days. “Where did the time go?” we wonder.
One study found that if you’re 40, assuming you live to be 80, your life, in terms of your subjective experience of time, is already 70 percent gone. It’s all rather terrifying. Fortunately, though, you have the power to change things.
The best explanation is that memories seem longer when our brains have to process more information. Childhood and young adulthood are full of novelty—the first time you rode a bike, had a romance, go job—but, as we get older, things get more routine. You can test this out by recalling a recent experience of novelty in your life, such as travel. A few years back, I went skiing for the first time, and that four-day trip still feels “long”. But a four-day period in my ordinary life zooms by too quickly for me to notice.
One solution, then, is obvious: do lots of new stuff. Travel more, if you can, and to unfamiliar places. Try new hobbies and meet new people—you’ll be taxing your brain, and the result will be a life that feels longer, more expansive and meaningful. But smaller changes work, too: even altering the route you take to the office, reading different kinds of novels or varying where you buy your sandwich at lunchtime will have some impact.
But novelty can only go so far. Besides, a fulfilling life requires routine: you can’t build deep relationships, or rise through the ranks at work if you’re always switching friends or jobs or even spouses. That’s why the Buddhist teacher Shinzen Young suggests an additional strategy: learn to meditate(冥想). Even a few minutes a day will enhance your concentration, and the better you get at concentrating, the more information your brain will take in during any experience, no matter how boring.
You’ll be making your whole life a little more novel. You’ll be more present and time will pass less quickly; in effect, you’ll extend your life—without magic pills or groundbreaking medical technology.
Title: How to stop time speeding up | |
Passage outline | Supporting details |
A truth familiar to 1. | ●Everything seemed to last longer in our childhood, 2. holidays. ●With people 3., the worsening effect makes them believe time goes faster and faster. |
Findings of a previous study | There exists an explicit gap between our real age and our 4. understanding of how old we are. |
The best explanation | 5. something fresh can make our memories last. |
Two possible 6. on handling the problem | ●Doing new stuff 7. much effort of our brain, causing a seemingly longer and more meaningful life. ●Making minor changes is also an 8. way to create longer feelings. ●Meditation helps people concentrate on routine and 9. more information from boring experiences. |
Conclusion | Even without medication, people can live a more novel life and experiencing slow flow of time actually 10. their life. |
Despite all the ways we have to interact with others, people still feel isolated and lone. Loneliness is an increasing problem—so much so that, last year, the government introduced a loneliness strategy and minister for loneliness. We used to talk of the condition in relation to older people but rarely gender. It may come as a surprise then that so many of those affected by loneliness are men.
A recent YouGov survey for Movember, a charity event that raises awareness of men’s health issues, asked men about their friendships and whether they had people outside their homes they could swap their worries with. Half of men asked said they had two or fewer friends and one in eight had none—that’s 2.5 million men with no close friends. Even worse, men’s friendlessness doubles between their early 20s and late middle age.
Isolation can have physical and mental health implications. A 2017 report by the Commission on Loneliness said loneliness is as harmful to health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Research shows correlation between loneliness and heart disease and strokes, and other studies associate loneliness with depression. However, why are so many men affected? In our latest podcast, psychotherapist Noel Bell says some men feel they have to be self-reliant. Due to widespread social stereotypes(刻板印象), it can be viewed as a sign of weakness for men to admit they have a problem, express their deepest feelings or discuss a serious personal topic.
Perhaps due to the way generations of men have been raised, it is often difficult to recognize feelings of loneliness in the first place. Behavioural differences between boys and girls are not naturally born at birth, they are socialised. Girls are stereotypically seen as more emotional and talkative and so their communicative and expressive skills are more valued than those of boys by parents and teachers, according to researchers.
For some men, having a partner and a family can somewhat shelter them from the negative effects of loneliness—but what if their personal circumstances change? After a relationship breaks down or there is a loss of you beloved, some men find their friends have drifted away and they have no one to talk to. Social media can be beneficial if it leads to interaction in the real world, but online networks are no substitute for face-to-face friendships—the number of likes on your most recent post does not compare with genuine connection.
Social activities such as team sports aren’t for everyone and, if you’re already feeling lonely or isolated, it can be difficult to build the confidence to enter those environments and connect over a shared interest. There is also the danger that some male-dominated social environments encourage drinking alcohol and may not be the right places for those who are feeling the mental health effects of isolation. That said, ‘shoulder to shoulder’ active interactions for men, such as exercise, especially running, are proven to be beneficial. But such activities do not interest all men and this is where psychotherapy(心理疗法) can be of particular use.
Don’t suffer in silence. A psychotherapist is not a friend, nor is therapy a substitute for a meaningful friendship. A therapist will, however, help a client identify what may be creating barriers to them building supportive friendships and determine the factors that may be causing their feelings of isolation. A therapist will work with the client to address their issues, providing a fair, non-judgemental space in which a lonely person can work out what is best for them and how to move towards a more connected and contented life. Bell, a famous therapist, says too many men enter therapy only when a situation has reached crisis point and he encourages men not to bottle up their emotions. “Reflecting on your feelings is healthy and normal,” he says.
1.Who used to be the prime victims of loneliness?
A.Junior students. B.Isolated ministers.
C.Mature men. D.Senior citizens.
2.What does the survey done by YouGov imply?
A.Men tend to expand their social circle after their adolescence.
B.Young and middle-aged male adults suffer more from loneliness.
C.Loneliness remains at the same level despite different ages.
D.Deep friendships are difficult to maintain between the males.
3.According to the Nobel Bell, men’s loneliness is relevant to _______.
A.the fear of dying of heart disease and strokes
B.the depression popular among men of all ages
C.the conventional view on how men should behave
D.their reliance on outside assistance through hardships
4.In terms of social stereotypes, girls are better at _______.
A.gaining sympathy from men B.hiding their true emotions
C.disciplining their own behavior D.interacting with other people
5.Why does the author mention social media in Paragraph 5?
A.To stress the importance of real interaction to men.
B.To introduce a possible way out of loneliness for men.
C.To contradict the belief that men feel lonely online.
D.To illustrate how social media can relieve depression.
6.When might a psychotherapist be of particular use?
A.When there is no substitute for the current therapy.
B.Not until a man is fully conscious of the crisis point?
C.When active interactions fail to attract a lonely man.
D.After a man is excluded from a team of common interests.
Throwing handfuls of bread to birds has long been seen as harmless enough. But in recent years, some scientists have suggested that bread might not do birds’ digestive systems any good, saying that as uneaten food rots down, the water quality worsens and algal blooms can occur. Plus, by encouraging birds to gather in one place, the build-up of droppings may result in outbreaks of disease too. Meanwhile, many cities have signs telling us not to feed pigeons and gulls, which are considered an “annoyance” due to the mess they make, and scattering bread inevitably attracts rats and mice.
It seems that the public has accepted these warnings, and that fewer of us now feed birds this way. In October, a sign went up in a Derbyshire park claiming that the local birds were dying of starvation, and urging visitors to feed them as before. When online posts about the notice went viral, feathers flew as people debated the benefits of handing out bread to birds.
Paul Stancliffe of the British Trust for Ornithology(BTO) points out that there’s insufficient scientific evidence for bread harming birds, adding that, as little research has been done, it could even turn out to be beneficial. ① “We just don’t know,” he says. Although bread is a heavily processed “unnatural” food intended for humans, that alone may be insufficient grounds for not feeding it to birds.
In the 1980s, the Wildfowl & Wetland Trust (WWT) carried out a comparative study of different flocks of mute swans, and the birds that consumed the most bread had weaker muscles, implying that a bread-heavy diet might be the cause. “Our official line is that bread is okay for ducks, geese and swans, but only in moderation,” says WWT’s Peter Morris. “However, this advice comes with several other warnings.” ② The first is that it’s best offered in winter, when there is less plant and insect food around. In spring and summer, too much artificial food may not be a good idea, since young birds have to learn how to look after themselves and natural food will contain a wider range of nutrients to help them grow.
“Just like us, birds need a varied diet to stay healthy,” says a spokesperson for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds(RSPB). “Although ducks, geese and swans can digest all types of bread, too much can leave them feeling full without giving them all of the important vitamins, minerals and nutrients they need.” ③
When bird feeding first became popular in the UK in the 19th century, some Victorians encouraged tough love, arguing that such handouts would only make our feathered friends lazy and dependent on welfare. ④ Morris says that there is a theory that wild birds can get “hooked” on easy meals, losing interest in other types of food. Another danger, he says, is that birds fed regularly end up accustomed to humans, placing themselves at greater risk of predation(捕食).
1.How can feeding birds with bread affect our urban life?
A.Birds’ mess can attract many rats and mice.
B.Birds’ gathering in one place disturbs our peace.
C.Bread goes bad and the water quality will suffer.
D.Human beings are likely to be infected with bird flu.
2.If birds rely on a bread-heavy diet, there is a strong possibility that ________.
A.they will become bigger in size with stronger muscles
B.lack of certain nutrients negatively influences their health
C.their digestive system will be damaged by artificial food
D.they would soon choose bread rather than natural food
3.Where does the sentence “Such moralizing sounds old-fashioned nowadays, but may have a grain of truth.” best suit?
A.① B.② C.③ D.④
4.What is the best title for this passage?
A.Is feeding birds a wise choice? B.Why not feed our bird neighbours?
C.Can we treat birds as friends? D.When do birds need our food aid?
