A new collection of photos brings an unsuccessful Antarctic voyage back to life.
Frank Hurley's pictures would be outstanding—undoubtedly firstrate photojournalism—if they had been made last week.In fact，they were shot from 1914 through 1916, most of them after a disastrous shipwreck(海难), by a cameraman who had no reasonable expectation of survival.Many of the images were stored in an ice chest, under freezing water, in the damaged wooden ship.
The ship was the Endurance, a small, tight, Norwegianbuilt threemaster that was intended to take Sir Ernest Shackleton and a small crew of seamen and scientists, 27 men in all，to the southernmost shore of Antarctica's Weddell Sea.From that point Shackleton wanted to force a passage by dog sled (雪橇) across the continent.The journey was intended to achieve more than what Captain Robert Falcon Scott had done.Captain Scott had reached the South Pole early in 1912 but had died with his four companions on the march back.
As writer Caroline Alexander makes clear in her forceful and wellresearched story The Endurance, adventuring was even then a thoroughly commercial effort.Scott's last journey，completed as he lay in a tent dying of cold and hunger, caught the world's imagination, and a film made in his honor drew crowds.Shackleton, a onetime British merchantnavy officer who had got to within 100 miles of the South Pole in 1908, started a business before his 1914 voyage to make money from movie and still photography.Frank Hurley, a confident and gifted Australian photographer who knew the Antarctic，was hired to make the images, most of which have never before been published.
1.What do we know about the photos taken by Hurley?
A.They were made last week.
B.They showed undersea sceneries.
C.They were found by a cameraman.
D.They recorded a disastrous adventure.
2.Who reached the South Pole first according to the text?
A.Frank Hurley.
B.Ernest Shackleton.
C.Robert Falcon Scott.
D.Caroline Alexander.
3.What does Alexander think was the purpose of the 1914 voyage?
A.Artistic creation. B.Scientific research.
C.Money making. D.Treasure hunting.
Reading can be a social activity．Think of the people who belong to book groups．They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them．Now the website BookCrossing．com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group．
Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share．BookCrossing provides an identification number to stick inside the book．Then the person leaves it in a public place，hoping that the book will have an adventure，traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it．
Bruce Pederson，the managing director of BookCrossing，says，"The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read．BookCrossing combines both．"
Members leave books on park benches and buses，in train stations and coffee shops．Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it．
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it．E-mails are then sent to the BookCrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found．Bruce Peterson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home．
BookCrossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the"real"and not the virtual（虚拟）．The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred thirty-five countries．
1.Why does the author mention book groups in the first paragraph？ ______
A.To explain what they are．
B.To introduce BookCrossing．
C.To stress the importance of reading．
D.To encourage readers to share their ideas．
2.What does the underlined word"it"in Paragraph 2 refer to？ ______
A.The book．
B.An adventure．
C.A public place．
D.The identification number．
3.What will a BookCrosser do with a book after reading it？ ______
A.Meet other readers to discuss it．
B.Pass it on to another reader．
C.Keep it safe in his bookcase．
D.Mail it back to its owner．
4.What is the best title for the text？ ______
A.Online Reading：A Virtual Tour
B.Electronic Books：A new Trend
C.A Book Group Brings Tradition Back
D.A Website Links People through Books
Five years ago, when I taught art at a school in Seattle, I used Tinkertoys as a test at the beginning of a term to find out something about my students. I put a small set of Tinkertoys in front of each student, and said: “Make something out of the Tinkertoys. You have 45 minutes today — and 45 minutes each day for the rest of the week.”
A few students hesitated to start. They waited to see the rest of the class would do. Several others checked the instructions and made something according to one of the model plans provided. Another group built something out of their own imaginations.
Once I had a boy who worked experimentally with Tinkertoys in his free time, his constructions filled a shelf in the art classroom and a good part of his bedroom at home. I was delighted at the presence of such a student. Here was an exceptionally creative mind at work. His presence meant that I had an unexpected teaching assistant in class whose creativity would infect(感染) other students.
Encouraging this kind of thinking has a downside. I ran the risk of losing those students who had a different style of thinking. Without fail one would declare, “But I’m just not creative.”
“Do you dream at night when you’re asleep?”
“Oh, sure.”
“So tell me one of your most interesting dreams.” The student would tell something wildly imaginative. Flying in the sky or in a time machine or growing three heads. “That’s pretty creative. Who does that for you?”
“Nobody. I do it.”
“Really-at night, when you’re asleep?”
“Sure.”
“Try doing it in the daytime, in class, okay?”
1.The teacher used Tinkertoys in class in order to ________.
A.know more about the students
B.make the lessons more exciting
C.raise the students’ interest in art
D.teach the students about toy design
2.What do we know about the boy mentioned in Paragraph 3?
A.He liked to help his teacher. B.He preferred to study alone.
C.He was active in class. D.He was imaginative.
3.What does the underlined word “downside” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A.Mistake. B.Drawback.
C.Difficulty. D.Burden.
4.Why did the teacher ask the students to talk about their dreams?
A.To help them to see their creativity.
B.To find out about their sleeping habits.
C.To help them to improve their memory.
D.To find out about their ways of thinking.
The meaning of silence varies among cultural groups.Silences may be thoughtful, or they may be empty when a person has nothing to say. A silence in a conversation may also show stubbornness, uneasiness, or worry. Silence may be viewed by some cultural groups as extremely uncomfortable; therefore attempts may be made to fill every gap(间隙) with conversation. Persons in other cultural groups value silence and view it as necessary for understanding a person's needs.
Many Native Americans value silence and feel it is a basic part of communicating among people, just as some traditional Chinese and Thai persons do. Therefore, when a person from one of these cultures is speaking and suddenly stops, what may be implied(暗示) is that the person wants the listener to consider what has been said before continuing.In these cultures, silence is a call for reflection.
Other cultures may use silence in other ways, particularly when dealing with conflicts among people or in relationships of people with different amounts of power. For example, Russian, French, and Spanish persons may use silence to show agreement between parties about the topic under discussion. However, Mexicans may use silence when instructions are given by a person in authority rather than be rude to that person by arguing with him or her. In still another use, persons in Asian cultures may view silence as a sign of respect, particularly to an elder or a person in authority.
Nurses and other care-givers need to be aware of the possible meanings of silence when they come across the personal anxiety their patients may be experiencing. Nurses should recognize their own personal and cultural construction of silence so that a patient’s silence is not interrupted too early or allowed to go on unnecessarily. A nurse who understands the healing(治愈) value of silence can use this understanding to assist in the care of patients from their own and from other cultures.
1.What does the author say about silence in conversations?
A.It implies anger.
B.It promotes friendship.
C.It is culture-specific.
D.It is content-based.
2.Which of the following people might regard silence as a call for careful thought?
A.The Chinese.
B.The French.
C.The Mexicans.
D.The Russians.
3.What does the author advise nurses to do about silence?
A.Let it continue as the patient pleases.
B.Break it while treating patients.
C.Evaluate its harm to patients.
D.Make use of its healing effects.
4.What may be the best title for the text?
A.Sound and Silence
B.What It Means to Be Silent
C.Silence to Native Americans
D.Speech Is Silver; Silence Is Gold
Grandparents Answer a Call
As a third－generation native of Brownsville, Texas, Mildred Garza never planned to move away.Even when her daughter and son asked her to move to San Antonio to help with their children, she politely refused.Only after a year of friendly discussion did Ms.Garza finally say yes.That was four years ago.Today all three generations regard the move as a success, giving them a closer relationship than they would have had in separate cities.
No statistics show the number of grandparents like Garza who are moving closer to adult children and grandchildren. Yet there is evidence suggesting that the trend is growing.Even President Obama’s mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, has agreed to leave Chicago and move into the White House to help care for her granddaughters. According to a study by grandparents.com, 83 percent of the people said Mrs.Robinson's decision will influence grandparents in the American family.Two－thirds believe more families will follow the example of Obama’s family.
“In the 1960s we were all a little wild and couldn't get away from home far enough or fast enough to prove we could do it on our own,”says Christine Crosby, publisher of Grand, a magazine for grandparents. “We now realize how important family is and how important it is to be near them, especially when you’re raising children.”
Moving is not for everyone. Almost every grandparent wants to be with his or her grandchildren and is willing to make sacrifices, but sometimes it is wiser to say no and visit frequently instead.Having your grandchildren far away is hard, especially knowing your adult child is struggling, but giving up the life you know may be harder.
1.Why was Garza’s move a success?
A.It strengthened her family ties.
B.It improved her living conditions.
C.It enabled her to make more friends.
D.It helped her know more new places.
2.What was the reaction of the public to Mrs.Robinson’s decision?
A.17% expressed their support for it.
B.Few people responded sympathetically.
C.83% believed it had a bad influence.
D.The majority thought it was a trend.
3.What did Crosby say about people in the 1960s?
A.They were unsure of themselves.
B.They were eager to raise more children.
C.They wanted to live away from their parents.
D.They had little respect for their grandparents.
4.What does the author suggest the grandparents do in the last paragraph?
A.Make decisions in the best interests of their own.
B.Ask their children to pay more visits to them.
C.Sacrifice for their struggling children.
D.Get to know themselves better.
I read somewhere that we spend a full third of our lives waiting. But where are we doing all of this waiting, and what does it mean to an impatient society like ours? To understand the issue, let’s take a look at three types of “waits”.
The very purest form of waiting is the Watched-Pot Wait. It is without doubt the most annoying of all. Take filling up the kitchen sink(洗碗池) as an example. There is absolutely nothing you can do while this is going on but keep both eyes fixed on the sink until it’s full. During these waits, the brain slips away from the body and wanders about until the water runs over the edge of the counter and onto your socks. This kind of wait makes the waiter helpless and mindless.
A cousin to the Watched-Pot Wait is the Forced Wait. This one requires a bit of discipline. Properly preparing packaged noodle soup required a Forced Wait. Directions are very specific. “Bring three cups of water to boil, add mix, simmer three minutes, remove from heat, let stand five minutes.”I have my doubts that anyone has actually followed the procedures strictly. After all, Forced Waiting requires patience.
Perhaps the most powerful type of waiting is the Lucky-Break Wait. This type of wait is unusual in that it is for the most part voluntary. Unlike the Forced Wait, which is also voluntary, waiting for your lucky break does not necessarily mean that it will happen.
Turning one’s life into a waiting game requires faith and hope, and is strictly for the optimists among us. On the surface it seems as ridiculous as following the directions on soup mixes, but the Lucky-Break Wait well serves those who are willing to do it. As long as one doesn’t come to rely on it, wishing for a few good things to happen never hurts anybody.
We certainly do spend a good deal of our time waiting. The next time you’re standing at the sink waiting for it to fill while cooking noodle soup that you’ll have to eat until a large bag of cash falls out of the sky, don’t be desperate. You’re probably just as busy as the next guy.
1.While doing a Watched-Pot Wait, we tend to ___________.
A.keep ourselves busy
B.get absent-minded
C.grow anxious
D.stay focused
2.What is the difference between the Forced Wait and the Watched-Pot Wait?\
A.The Forced Wait requires some self-control.
B.The Forced Wait makes people passive.
C.The Watched-Pot Wait needs directions.
D.The Watched-Pot Wait engages body and brain.
3.What can we learn about the Lucky-Break Wait?
A.It is less voluntary than the Forced Wait.
B.It doesn’t always bring the desired result.
C.It is more fruitful than the Forced Wait.
D.It doesn’t give people faith and hope.
4.What does the author advise us to do the next time we are waiting?
A.Take it seriously.
B.Don’t rely on others.
C.Do something else.
D.Don’t lose heart.
5.The author supports his view by _________.
A.exploring various causes of “waits”.
B.describing detailed processes of “waits”.
C.analyzing different categories of “waits”
D.revealing frustrating consequences of “waits”
