Readers who long imagined themselves in Harry Potter’s world have a chance to absorb themselves in another fictional universe created by J.K. Rowling. The author said that she would release (发布) The Ickabog, a new story for young readers, for free online.
The first chapter of the fairy tale about a monster known as the Ickabog was published on May 26, and further chapters will be released every week until July 10. It is targeted to readers aged 7 to 9 and will be published as a book in November. The story concerns rumors (谣言) of a fierce child-eating monster with extraordinary powers which lives in the northern tip of an imaginary land known as Cornucopia.
Rowling said she had started working on the book more than a decade ago, while she was still writing Harry Potter, and originally intended to publish it after Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the last of her seven-book Potter series. But she ended up keeping The Ickabog, which isn’t related to Harry Potter or any of Rowling’s other work, in her family, reading it to her young children and then putting it away until recently. “I’ve decided to publish The Ickabog for free online, so children on lockdown, or even those back at school during these strange, unsettling times, can read it or have it read to them,” Rowling said. Rowling said she would donate her royalties (版税) for the book to causes related to the coronavirus (冠状病毒) diseases.
Readers will have a chance to participate in the process. Rowling’s publishers around the world will hold an illustration (插图) competition, encouraging children to submit (提交) drawings to accompany the story. The best submissions will end up in the book’s final edition when it is published in the fall.
Rowling’s children, now teenagers, are “touchingly ecstatic” about the publication of their childhood bedtime story, Rowling wrote on her site. She started reading chapters to them again recently, which she said was “one of the most extraordinary experiences of my writing life. ”
1.It will take at least ______ for readers to finish reading The Ickabog online.
A.a week B.one month and a half C.three months D.six months
2.What do you know about the The Ickabog?
A.It is the name of an imaginary island. B.It sees teenagers as targeted readers.
C.It is a continuation of the Potter series. D.It was completed a long time ago.
3.Why does J. K. Rowling release the book free online?
A.To collect money for coronavirus research.
B.To involve readers in the illustration competition.
C.To entertain children over the COVID-19 period.
D.To appeal to Harry Potter lovers.
4.What does the underlined word “ecstatic” probably mean?
A.Disappointed. B.Worried. C.Nervous. D.Excited.
Our much-loved museums and art galleries are closing their doors due to the current outbreak of COVID-19. But don’t worry. With the help of the Internet, we can take virtual tours of them around the world. There are some fascinating exhibitions at our fingertips, which you can explore from home free of charge!
Musée d’Orsay, Paris
Fancy a trip to Paris? Oui oui! This grand museum holds the largest collection of impressionist and post-impressionist works in the world, and you can click your way through the very best among them thanks to interactive galleries featuring Van Gogh, Cézanne, Degas and more.
Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Over in the Netherlands, the Rijksmuseum is a treasure house of classical Dutch art, Asian artwork and 17th-century silver and porcelain. The Street View-style tour is fine, but better to stick to the brilliant online exhibitions, like the interactive guide to the master of throwing shade, Rembrandt. You can even get up close and personal with ‘The Night Watch’.
Picasso Museum, Barcelona
As well as a vast online display of Picasso’s best bits, this museum offers a 360-degree tour of some of the best-preserved Medieval architecture in Barcelona. When you’re done getting around the building, you can check out their Twitter hashtag (推特标签）#MuseuPicassoVirtual to keep up with daily news of art.
Hong Kong Heritage Museum
The Heritage Museum has everything from Chinese fine art dating back to the Qing dynasty to cutting-edge Hong Kong contemporary art. The online collection, hosted on Google Arts & Culture, is particularly strong on design, photography, porcelain and sculpture from the past century.
1.In the Rijksmuseum, you will have a better understanding of _________.
A.Van Gogh B.Rembrandt
C.Picasso D.impressionists
2.Which museum can keep you updated with news of art through social media every day?
A.Musée d’Orsay. B.Rijksmuseum.
C.Picasso Museum. D.Hong Kong Heritage Museum.
3.What is special about Hong Kong Heritage Museum?
A.It stresses contemporary art. B.It has porcelain exhibits.
C.It offers visual tours online. D.It features Chinese art.
阅读下面短文, 根据所给情节进行续写, 使之构成一个完整的故事。
Robert and Henry were two friends in the same class. They always played together and went home together. One day Robert and Henry were going home from school, when, on turning a corner, Robert cried out, “A fight! Let’s go and see!”
“No,” said Henry. “Let us go quietly home and not meddle with(插手) this quarrel. We have nothing to do with it and may get into mischief(trouble). Also our parents are expecting to have dinner with us together at home and I don’t want them to worry about me. ”
“You are a coward, and afraid to go,” said Robert, and off he ran. Henry went straight home, and in the afternoon went to school as usual.
But Robert had told all the boys that Henry was a coward, and they laughed at him a great deal. From then on, they looked down upon Henry and didn’t want to play with him together.
Henry was sad but he wasn’t angry with Robert for his rude behavior, because he learned that true courage is shown most in bearing misunderstanding when it was not deserved, and that he ought to be afraid of nothing but doing wrong. Thus, he just ignored the other boys’ laughter and continued to go to school and study as well. However, Robert didn’t invite Henry to go home with him anymore. Instead, he had some other boys who also thought Henry was a coward. Every day after school, they didn’t go home directly but went to the river or somewhere to play games and had a lot of fun.
A few days later, Robert was bathing with his new friends in a river, and got out of his depth. He struggled, and screamed for help, but all in vain. The boys who had called Henry a coward got out of the water as fast as they could, but they did not even try to help him.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
Robert was fast sinking.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Thus, Robert’s life was saved.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假定你是李华，你所在的抚顺某中学要征集一封英文感谢信，以致意奋战在抗击新型冠状病毒第一线的医护人员，请你根据下列要点写一封信用于投稿。内容包括：1.表达谢意；2.个人感受；3.表达信心。
注意：
1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇： 流行病 epidemic；新型冠状病毒 novel coronavirus
Dear medical workers,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Good luck and stay well！
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
“A bird with broken wing will never fly as high.” I’m sure that John would agree with this saying,_________ he felt this way almost every day in school.
By high school, John was the most famous _________ in his town. He was always absent, didn’t answer questions and got into _________. He had failed almost every exam by the time he entered his senior year, yet was _________ each year to a higher grade level. Teachers didn’t want to have him again the following year. John was moving on, but definitely not moving _________.
I met John for the first time at a weekend leadership training program since John was one of 405 students who _________. At the start of the training, John was just standing _________ the circle of students, against the back wall. He didn’t _________ join the discussion groups. But slowly, the interactive games drew him in.
The ice really melted when the groups started building a list of _________ and negative things that had occurred at school that year. John __________ some constructive ideas on those situations. The other students in John’s group welcomed his comments. All of a sudden John felt like a __________ of the group, and before long he was treated like a leader. By the end of the training, he had joined the Homeless Project team. The other students on the team were __________ with his passionate concern and ideas. They __________ elected John co-chairman of the team.
John started __________ at school every day and answered questions from teachers for the first time. He led a second project, collecting 300 blankets and 1,000 pairs of shoes for the homeless shelter from house to house.
A bird with a broken wing only needs __________. Once healed, it can fly higher than the rest.
1.A.if B.until C.as D.though
2.A.storyteller B.troublemaker C.dream-seeker D.peace-lover
3.A.fights B.debt C.difficulties D.work
4.A.driven away B.left out C.kept in D.passed on
5.A.in B.up C.away D.back
6.A.signed up B.ran away C.fell down D.went by
7.A.around B.onto C.among D.outside
8.A.hurriedly B.easily C.readily D.warmly
9.A.useless B.meaningful C.strange D.positive
10.A.changed B.expressed C.reserved D.noticed
11.A.founder B.heart C.leader D.part
12.A.impressed B.patient C.disappointed D.familiar
13.A.still B.again C.hardly D.even
14.A.showing up B.dropping out C.going down D.walking around
15.A.raising B.feeding C.mending D.replacing
Your teacher hands back a test and you did poorly. At this moment, you wish you could hide from the world. 1. But according to a research, what’s more important is how you react in the long term. Scientists say students can be divided into two groups. The first, called “mastery-oriented learners” view poor results as challenges to do better in the future. The second, called “helpless learners” will respond just by giving up.
2. But surprisingly, this attitude is even more important than a student’s natural intelligence. However smart, eventually you’ll come across question you cannot answer. When you do, it’s important not to fall victim to helplessness. Learned helplessness was first discovered in an experiment where some dogs suffered from electrical shocks they couldn’t escape from. Later, their feeling of helplessness was so strong that they made no attempt to escape even when they could.
So what makes you a different learner? 3. Mastery-oriented learners believe hard work is the key to success. Faced with failure, they simply conclude they need to try harder. However, helpless learners believe intelligence is inborn. 4. Thus, when they have difficulties they conclude they are not smart enough and that improving on their intelligence isn’t possible.
If you want to be a mastery-oriented person, you can. 5. If you think you can do better, keep trying and the results will surely follow.
A.Start by not letting negative results discourage you.
B.It’s feeling many students are familiar with.
C.It all comes down to your idea of intelligence.
D.That’s because you should have worked hard.
E.Whether you’re intelligent, ambition counts.
F.To them, success in school seems to rely on natural talent and ability.
G.As you would expect, the first group performs better than the second.
