The Scandinavian languages consist of Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroese. Danish is closely related to other Scandinavian languages such as Swedish and Norwegian. In fact, they are so similar that a Dane, a Swede, and a Norwegian can all have a conversation while each person is speaking his or her own language. You might wonder why, if the three languages are mutually understandable, they aren’t considered a single language.
Well, language isn’t only about communication; it’s an important part of a nation’s cultural and political identity. For centuries, Denmark, Sweden and Norway have worked to maintain separate identities, and having distinct languages helps. Besides, communication between the three languages isn’t easy; speakers have to work hard to understand each other.
In medieval times, Sweden was under Denmark’s control, and Danish was the language of government. When Sweden became independent in 1523, its officials decided to establish its own writing conventions, changing the spelling of words to reflect Swedish pronunciation and changing the alphabet to make it look less Danish. Soon after these changes were complete, the Bible was translated into Swedish. The Bible made the new Swedish more official, and the differences between written Danish and Swedish were solidified.
Spoken Swedish sounds pretty similar to Danish. The problem is that the two languages have rather different vocabularies. For example, pocket is lomme in Danish, but ficka in Swedish. Also, some words that sound similar have different meanings. The word frokost means lunch in Danish, but Swedish frukost, which sounds almost the same, means breakfast. This kind of difference is pretty common and can cause a lot of misunderstandings.
Norway was under Danish control for 400 years, until 1814. During this time, all official documents were written in Danish, and written Norwegian entirely died out. As a result, contemporary Norwegian looks very similar to Danish. The two languages also have similar vocabularies, although Norwegian pronunciation can be very different.
The relationship between the languages can be seen in a vast number of cognates, words that are similar in different languages.
1.What did Sweden and Norway do to maintain their cultural and political identities?
A.To have their own languages.
B.To keep exchanges with Denmark.
C.To copy the Danish language.
D.To create a lot of new words.
2.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?
A.How Sweden won its independence.
B.Why Sweden created a new language.
C.Why the Bible was important to Swedish.
D.How Sweden established its writing system.
3.Which of the following words means “breakfast” in Swedish?
A.ficka B.lomme C.frokost D.frukost
4.Which will a Norwegian find easier to learn according to the text?
A.Danish pronunciation. B.Swedish vocabulary.
C.Danish vocabulary. D.Swedish pronunciation.
The Earth is facing a climate crisis, but it’s also getting greener. According to a new research, the rise is largely because of China and India. A study by NASA, based on extensive satellite imagery, has revealed that the two countries with the world’s biggest populations are also responsible for the largest increase in green plants.
A third of the leaf increase is attributable to China and India, due to major tree planting projects as well as a vast increase in agriculture. “China and India account for one-third of the greening, but contain only 9% of the planet’s land area covered in vegetation (植被)—a surprising finding, considering the large populations in the countries need much land,” Chi Chen, the study’s lead author said in a statement.
Between 2000 and 2017, a NASA sensor gathered data of the Earth’s surface from aboard two satellites, the Terra and the Aqua. Using the data, researchers discovered that China is the source of a quarter of the increase in green leaf area, despite possessing only 6.6% of the world’s vegetated area. Forests account for 42% of that increase, while croplands make up a further 32%. China’s increase in forest area is the result of forest conservation and expansion programs, established to combat the impacts of climate change and air pollution.
Rama Nemani, a researcher at NASA’s Ames Research Center, said in a statement, “When the greening of the Earth was first observed, we thought it was due to a warmer, wetter climate from the added carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, leading to more leaf growth in northern forests, for instance. Now, with the data, we see that humans are also contributing,” Nemani said. “This will help scientists make better predictions about the behavior of different Earth systems, which will help countries make better decisions about how and when to take action.”
1.What’s the text mainly about?
A.The climate crisis the Earth is facing.
B.A solution to global climate warming.
C.Actions taken to fight against air pollution.
D.China and India’s contributions to global greening.
2.Why is the finding considered surprising for China and India?
A.They need much land for agriculture.
B.They are greatly polluted countries.
C.They are rich in natural resources.
D.They both face a serious food crisis.
3.What percentage does China make up of the total green leaf growth?
A.6.6%. B.25%.
C.33%. D.42%.
4.What did Rama Nemani’s want to emphasize?
A.The scientists made a wrong prediction.
B.Climate is a critical factor in leaf growth.
C.Human efforts cannot be ignored.
D.It is never too late to take actions.
Find a balance between the heart and mind
Sense and sensibility was written by British author Jane Austen. It shows two sisters’ love experiences and their complicated marriages. The novel offers the contrast between sense and sensibility in a humorous way.
The elder sister, Elinor Dashwood, is the perfect representation of sense. She always refrains from expressing her emotions, even when she finds out that Edward, her lover, was engaged to another woman. Meanwhile, Marianne Dashwood is the perfect representation of sensibility. She is idealistic. When she is confronted with the nonchalance of her lover John Willoughby, Marianne is greatly annoyed.
Besides the themes of sense and sensibility, the novel also depicts the status of women in that era. Elinor and Marianne used to live with their parents. But, when their father passes away, the family’s property is passed down to their father’s son born out of wedlock. The sisters and their mother don’t have money and have to rely on their distant relative.
Due to their poor status, Willoughby, Marianne’s former lover, eventually marries a woman who does not have as much taste or elegance but who is rich.
The author showed readers the importance of money rather romance in this era. Marriages often depend on the financial situations of either side.
As the story evolves, Elinor and Marianne learn from each other. Marianne learns more self-restraint, and she marries her long-time admirer Colonel Brandon. Elinor is finally able to better express her emotions, and gets married with her lover Edward.
Through their parallel experience of love loss, the sisters learn that sense must mix with sensibility if they are to find personal happiness in a society where status and money govern the rules of love.
1.What is the theme of the novel Sense and Sensibility?
A.Sense should mix with sensibility. B.Status and money govern marriages.
C.Real love is never a selfish emotion. D.There is no true love in the real world.
2.What is paragraph 3 mainly about?
A.The sisters’ family background. B.The loss of Dashwood’s property.
C.The rules of love in Austin’s era. D.Women’s social position in Austin’s era.
3.Which of the following is true according to the text?
A.Edward gets married to a rich woman. B.Colonel Brandon admires Elinor at first.
C.Finally Elinor finds her true happiness. D.Marianne marries Willoughby in the end.
4.What type of writing is the text?
A.A news report. B.A book review.
C.A biography. D.A movie poster.
Zhou Zhaoyan is just 6 years of age, but she has touched the hearts of Internet users worldwide, many of whom are still living amid COVID-19 restrictions.
Since her parents started to post her performances on video—sharing platform YouTube in early March, her account Miumiu Guitargirl has attracted more than 157,000 fans.
The video of her singing Fly Me to the Moon, written by Bart Howard, while playing guitar received over 5 million hits on the platform. In her version of the classic song, Hotel California, by the Eagles, she is seen singing, playing guitar, electric guitar, bass, drums and maracas. With over 1.8 million hits, it’s been described by viewers as the “cutest version” of the song. Followers send best wishes online to the “talented angel”.
Some singers, bands and celebrities from home and abroad also reposted her videos on their social media. The American instrumental guitarist Nei ZaZa reposted the girl’s cover of his guitar music I’m Alright on the Facebook, and commented: “6 years old! They get younger and younger!”
The girl has covered both Chinese and English songs. The most difficult is I Wish You Love, which was sung by bossa nova singer Lisa Ono. It took about three weeks to master the guitar—playing and singing, her father says, adding that as many people like the girl’s music, she’s more confident about herself and wants to learn more.
“I’m glad that many people like my music. I know some of them will watch it over and over. I feel very warm-hearted,” says Zhaoyan from Nanjing, Jiansu Province, who learned guitar from the age of 3 from her father, a guitar teacher.
In late February, her parents started to post short videos of her playing guitar on the Chinese video—sharing platform Bilibili. At that particular time, Zhaoyan was practicing guitar about five hours a day, as the family were confined to their home due to the pandemic.
1.What has made Zhaoyan popular worldwide?
A.Her covers of the classic songs. B.Her musical talent shows online.
C.Her skills in playing the guitar. D.Her efforts to help COVID-19 patients.
2.What did Nei ZaZa thinks of the girl’s cover of his music?
A.It was great for so young a girl. B.She still had a long way to go.
C.She did better than he himself. D.She has potential to be a super star.
3.How does Zhou feel about her own popularity?
A.Unexpected. B.Indifferent.
C.Encouraged. D.Overjoyed.
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。
In 2000, when I was around seven years old, my parents, sister, brother, and I were coming back from a picnic. That was our usual weekend adventure, but unlike every other weekend, a surprise was waiting for us in our driveway. There, we saw two adult geese (鹅) and a young goose. The adults were surprised by our return and flew away, but their baby was still too young to fly and couldn’t follow. We are no strangers to the ways of wildlife, so we knew to avoid physical contact with the young goose out of fear that it would stay with us and be lost to its family forever.
Hours passed, and night fell. With it came the coldness. The tiny little thing was walking around our yard and it was clear that the goose needed protection and warmth. At that point, we knew we had to help, аnd wе brоught hіm іntо оur bасk роrсh (门廊).
We all pretty much slept with one eye open till morning came. And then another morning. And still another. Each morning, we would try to shoo (赶走) the goose to his parents, who kept coming back to our yard. He wouldn’t go to them, though, and they wouldn’t come close enough to take him. We kept this up for five days, but no luck. By then, the young goose had clearly decided we were his new family, so we had to give him a name. My sister Joanna called him Peeper, because he would follow us around the yard making a peeping noise, nonstop. We also decided that Peeper was a boy. I don’t know why; it just felt right.
Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months until almost a year passed. Peeper slept in our back porch each night. My dad would clean all the goose droppings daily. He would throw Peeper up into the air so he could fly a loop (圈) around the house, coming back again once the porch was clean.
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:
One evening, my dad threw Peeper up in the air as usual, but this time, Peeper just flew off._________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
It came as a total shock to me when, in 2019, an aging adult goose made his way back to my family home. ____________
假定你是李华，你打算暑假期间找一份兼职工作，请给笔友Mike 写一封信，告诉他这一计划，并请他给出建议。
注意：
1．词数80左右；
2．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
