In China, poetry is an important part of the curriculum and, with recent changes announced by the Ministry of Education, the number of poems students will have to memorize and recite is being increased from fourteen to seventy-two. Now, before you gasp in horror, let’s think about the reasons why studying so many poems, especially ancient poems, is important.
First of all, poetry is an essential part of traditional Chinese culture. 1.It is also the key to understanding the thoughts and emotions that are common to everyone but which we may be unable to express—the joy of Li Bai dancing with the moon, for example. Everyone has feelings of joy, love, loneliness, sadness and even anger. 2. .
3.In a few short lines, even something commonplace can become beautiful. Here is a poem called “Fog” by Carl Sandberg: The fog comes / on silent haunches (弓腰蹲着) / and then moves on. Yes, fog does move smoothly, silently and mysteriously like a cat, and Sandberg captures that feeling and image, and makes it beautiful.
4. After all, a poem is really just a song without music. Most ancient poetry, especially Western poetry, was actually spoken before it was written. Take Homer’s Iliad, for example. The story was apparently told for hundreds of years in palaces and on street corners before Homer wrote it down.
The American poet Robert Frost said, “Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” And poems are very concise—there is not a wasted word. 5.
A.Few people read it for pleasure.
B.Poems can also express beauty.
C.Poetry is difficult to recite.
D.Of course, to really appreciate poetry, it has to be read aloud.
E.You are lucky that you now have seventy-two poems to learn!
F.It is a pathway to understanding your history and your society.
G.A good poem can put those emotions into words and bring us self-understanding.
When there are some strangers in front of us, which of them will we trust?
According to a new study in the online PLOSOne, people make their decisions to trust others largely based on their faces. Your appearance can do a lot for you, especially if you are in the financial industry. The more trustworthy you look, the more likely people will buy what you’re selling.
Researchers from Britain’s University of Warwick Business School, University College London, and Dartmouth College, US, did a number of experiments.
The research team used computer software to make 40 faces, from the least to the most trustworthy-looking. The study said that the difference between a trustworthy face and one that isn’t as trustworthy comes from features that look slightly angry or slightly happy, even when the face is at rest. However, a slightly happy face is more likely to be trusted. Researchers gave participants some money and asked them which face they trusted to invest the money for them. Then researchers gave some good and bad information about the people with these faces, and asked the participants again whom they trusted. The results showed that even if they got different information, the participants didn’t change their choices. They were still more likely to invest their money with the more trustworthy-looking faces.
Chris Olivola, one of the study’s authors, said in the University of Warwick’s press release: “It seems we are still willing to go with our own instincts about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them.”
1.According to the study, which of the following faces is most likely to be trusted?
A.An embarrassed face. B.A disappointed face.
C.A smiling face. D.A nervous face.
2.What do we know about the experiments?
A.Most participants gave their money to the trustworthy-looking faces.
B.Researchers took photos of the 40 people’s faces in colleges.
C.The trustworthy faces were given good information.
D.Participants liked to choose the faces with good information.
3.Which of the following best explains “instincts” underlined in the last paragraph?
A.Feelings rather than opinions or ideas based on facts.
B.Judgements that are easily changed by others.
C.Good information that are given by people around.
D.Opinions that grow out of social practice.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.Why people trust a stranger with good appearance.
B.People usually judge strangers according to their faces.
C.How different information affects people’s decisions.
D.Why the research team carried out the experiment.
Dolphins are universally regarded as some of the cleverest creatures in the world. In captivity ( 圈养), they can be trained to complete complex tasks such as jumping through hoops and somersaulting through the air.
But their intelligence doesn’t stop there. In a recent study of cetaceans (鲸目动物)--a group of animals that includes dolphins and whales--researchers created a list of intelligent behaviors observed in 90 different cetacean species, reported the Guardian. For example, the smartest cetaceans hunt in groups, share knowledge through mimicry (模仿) and even care for each other's children. Some even consider their behavior to be human-like.
“There is the saying that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ seems to be true for both whales and humans,”
Michael Muthukrishna of the London School of Economics, co-author of the study, told the Guardian.
However, cetaceans don’t just use their brain power for survival. The study suggests that dolphins might even gossip. That's because some species greet each other with specific whistles, just as humans greet each other by name, the Guardian reported. Sometimes, a group of dolphins whistles the “name” of a dolphin that isn't there. Could they be speaking about their “friend” behind its back?
For the researchers, dolphin small talk is a big deal. As they found that the most social cetaceans also have the largest brains, they argue that cetacean intelligence developed to meet the demands of complex social groups.
Known as the “cultural brain hypothesis (假设),” it had only been used to explain the intelligence of humans and other primates (灵长目动物). The new study aimed to find a common pathway for the evolution of intelligence among biologically different species.
“It is interesting to think that whale and human brains are different in their structure but have brought us to the same patterns in behavior, ” Luke Rendell, a biologist at the University of St Andrews, told the Guardian.
Indeed, we still have a lot to learn about our intelligent ocean-dwelling neighbors. “We don’ t have to look at other planets to look for aliens,” Muthukrishna told the Guardian, “because we know that underwater there are these amazing species with so many parallels to us in their complex behaviors.”
1.The recent study was intended to ______.
A.learn more about intelligent creatures of the sea
B.explain the intelligence of humans and cetaceans
C.create a list of intelligent behaviors of different cetacean species
D.see whether the intelligence of different species evolved in the same way
2.The implied meaning of the underlined part in Paragraph 3 is that ______.
A.villagers have the responsibility to raise any child in the village
B.like human beings, whales even help raise each other’s babies
C.cetaceans have social behaviors very similar to human beings
D.it is not easy for one villager to take care of his or her own child
3.It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A.it is unnecessary to look for aliens and do research into them
B.some cetaceans have the same intelligence as human beings
C.both dolphins and whales greet each other with specific whistles
D.both dolphins and whales have a lot in common with humans in behaviors
4.What is the best title for this passage?
A.Aliens living underwater B.A study of intelligent dolphins
C.Intelligent creatures of the sea D.Reasons for the intelligence of sea creatures
When it comes to the most famous 20th century painters of the United States, Grandma Moses should be mentioned, although she did not start painting until she was in her late seventies. As she once said to herself , “I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me”. No one could have had a more active old age．
She was born on a farm in New York State, one of five boys and five girls. At 12 she left home and was in domestic service until at 27 she married Thomas Moses, the hired hand of one of her employers. They farmed most of their lives, first in Virginia and then in New York State, at Eagle Bridge. She had ten children, of whom five survived; her husband died in 1927．
Grandma Moses painted a little as a child and made embroidery (刺绣) pictures as a hobby, but only changed to oils in old age because her hands became too stiff (僵硬的) to sew and she still wanted to keep busy and pass the time. Her pictures were first sold at the local drugstore and at a market and were soon noticed by a businessman who bought all that she painted. Three of the pictures were exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1940 she had her first exhibition in New York. Between the 1930’s and her death, she produced some 2,000 pictures: careful and lively portrayals of the country life she had known for so long, with a wonderful sense of color and form. “I think really hard till I think of something really pretty, and then I paint it” she said．
1.What can we learn about Moses?
A.She stopped painting in her late seventies.
B.She still led an active life when she was old.
C.Her marriage life was not happy.
D.She painted oils as a child.
2.What did Grandma Moses spend most of her life doing?
A.Embroidering. B.Farming.
C.Nursing. D.Painting.
3.What does the underlined word “portrayals ” in the last paragraph mean?
A.Directions. B.Stages.
C.Surveys. D.Descriptions.
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage？
A.Grandma Moses: the Best Woman Painter
B.Grandma Moses and Her Farm Life
C.Grandma Moses and Her Exhibition
D.Grandma Moses : A Famous Woman Painter of 20th Century
Walter Peak High Country Farm, on the western shores of Lake Wakatipu is famous in history. Its sheltered bays were used as camping sites by Maori travelling to the Mararoa and Oreti Rivers on Moa hunting and gathering expeditions.
Things to do
Situated on picturesque Lake Wakatipu’s wester shores, the farm is the perfect place to spend a few relaxing hours. The Farm Tour itself is a wonderful experience for the whole family, with something to keep everyone entertained and happy. Our rural host will meet you after you leave the steamboat and take you for a walking tour of the farmyard. The first stop is the holding to help feed the sheep and deer, and even get up close to the Scottish highland cattle. Then walk slowly through the lakeside gardens to the charming Colonel’s Homestead for morning or afternoon tea. Afterwards the farmer will lead you over to the shearing shed (剪羊毛棚) where you can watch the farm dogs rounding up sheep on the hills, and see the farmer cut the wool off a sheep. You will then board the steamboat for your cruise back to Queenstown.
Ticket Information
Child Ticket $ 22. 00
Adult Ticket $ 77.00
Visitor Information
Opening Time: 10 a.m.
Closing Time: 4 p.m.
Additional Information
All tickets purchased at MyFun must make a booking at +64-3441—8166. Please mention your My Fun barcode (条形码) number when making your booking. Please print out your voucher (收据) and take along with you to the attraction. Tickets are valid for 12 months from the date of purchase.
1.What can you do during the Farm Tour?
A.Ride on the farm. B.Feed the chicken.
C.Have morning tea. D.Cut the wool off a sheep.
2.How much should parents with a child pay for the Farm Tour?
A.$99. B.$ 121.
C.$ 176. D.$198.
3.What should the visitor who has bought tickets at MyFun do?
A.Call +64-3441-8166 to print out your voucher.
B.Take the voucher to the Farm.
C.Tell the Farm your MyFun barcode number.
D.Use the tickets after a year.
阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。
Choosing the right college can be a difficult task. There are thousands of colleges and universities for you to choose from and many are worthy of being considered. For each potential college, find out the success rate of students' getting their jobs, especially those related to your majors. Here are some strategies（策略）for you to make the right choice.
Colleges which offer practice in some of the fields are worthy of your attention. It can provide you with a large amount of information on job hunting. Companies often prefer employees that perform well. Practice gives you the valuable experience and necessary opportunities. Some practical skills that you learn will really prepare yourself for the certain jobs. Besides, choosing a college that has teacher members with good reputations in their fields can also be very useful since these teacher members can provide you with steps into the working world by practice.
School rankings and a national reputation of academic success are often the important factors（因素）for your potential employers. This type of information can be found easily on the Internet and in magazines. To the employers, graduates from high ranking colleges are often considered more reliable. They have a stronger ability to learn and are more likely to create wealth for the company. Sometimes it can even be a more important factor in looking for a job than the actual quality of education the college provides.
After narrowing down your choices to a few colleges, it's time to visit them. Taking a look at the campus（校园）can change your attitude to a particular school. Plan your tour and then do some research on your own. It is also important to talk to as many students as you can and find out if earning a degree from the school is helpful in getting a job. Meanwhile, you can speak to the students in the majors you're considering to know what the courses are like, what you'll learn, and what your expected outcome will be.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
