Every artist knows in his heart that he is saying something to the public. Not only does he want to say it well, but he wants it to be something that has not been said before. He hopes that the public will listen and understand ----he wants to teach them, and he wants them to learn from him.
What visional artists like painters want to teach is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters translate their experience into shapes and colors, not words. They seem to feel that a certain choice of shapes and colors, out of the countless billions possible, is very interesting for them and worth showing to us. Without their work we should never have noticed these particular shapes and colors, or have felt the delight which they brought to the artists.
Most artists take their shapes and colors from the world of nature and from human bodies in movement and at rest; their choices show that these aspects(方面)of the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights. Modern artists might say that they only choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, that there is nothing more in it. Yet even they do not choose totally without thinking about the character of their subjects.
If one painter chooses to paint a decaying(溃烂的) leg and another a lake in moonlight, each of them is directing our attention to a certain aspect of the world . Each painter is telling us something, showing us something, emphasizing(强调) something - all of which means that, consciously or unconsciously, he is trying to teach us.It is hard to explain what a painter is saying because _______.
| A．most painters do not express themselves well |
| B．a painter uses unusual words and phrases |
| C．a painter use shapes and colors instead of words |
| D．many painters do not say anything |
Modern artists might say their choice of subjects ______.
| A．carries a message to the public | B．only provides interesting patterns |
| C．has no pattern or form | D．teaches the public important truths |
The writer says that modern art contains______
| A．nothing but meaningless patterns | B．uninteresting aspects of the world |
| C．subjects chosen partly for their meaning | D．completely meaningless subjects |
Which of the following is implied(暗示) but NOT directly stated in the passage?
| A．A painting is more easily understood than a song |
| B．Art is only the arranging of shapes and colors |
| C．Every artist tries to say something to the public |
| D．One must look beyond shapes and colors to find out what an artist is saying |
It is often said that man has become the enemy of our planet. This is no exaggeration(夸张), for reports show that man’s greed has done much to destroy the earth. Man, in his greedy desire for financial growth, has polluted the air, land and water, and has robbed our valuable natural resources. Man’s industrial plants pour out poisonous waste that pollutes the sea and puts life in the sea under the threat of dying out; at the same time, they release alarming amounts of carbon dioxide, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other pollutants. Small wonder that the air now is much warmer and more impure than ever before.
Of course, this is not just because of man’s greed—it is man’s pressing need as well. For instance, in developing countries, huge financial foreign debts have forced governments to approve the cutting of forests for agriculture or ranching. As a result, forests are cut down just to meet man’s immediate needs.
Perhaps unknowingly，man has changed the make-up of the earth's atmosphere. Scientific studies have shown that CFCs used in refrigerators and industrial cleaners are fast destroying the ozone layer—a protective layer in the atmosphere that protects us against the harmful effects of the sun’s ultraviolet (紫外线)rays. In fact, documented reports have shown a terrible fact that there are “holes” in the ozone layer over the Antarctic. And they appear to be expanding.
Faced with these environmental problems, world leaders have shown deep concern. The UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) has arranged international agreements like the Vienna convention of 1985 and the Montreal Protocol of 1989 to preserve the ozone layer by controlling the production, use and trade of destructive chemicals.
There may be some doubt as to how effectual these agreements may be, given that some countries still maintain an “I-don’t-care” attitude. Their attitude is probably due to their failure to grasp the importance of the problem. Then, there is no doubt that environmental education on an international scale（规模）is greatly needed, so that all countries, great and small—the “haves” and the “have nots”—may realize their responsibilities for our planet.
In the meantime, the UNEP seems to have taken steps in the right direction, and it is hoped that in the not so distant future, all nations of the world will join hands in saving mother earth. Which of the following is a reason for the cutting and burning of forests?
| A．To build houses for more population. |
| B．To have land for agriculture. |
| C．To export trees to other countries. |
| D．To build industrial plants. |
The holes in the ozone layer are largely due to________.
| A．man’s research activities | B．the greenhouse effect |
| C．the ultraviolent | D．harmful chemicals |
Why don’t some countries care about the problem of the environment?
| A．They don’t want to put their lives in danger. |
| B．They just don’t know how to solve the problem. |
| C．They haven’t realized the seriousness of the problem. |
| D．They don’t want to break their international commitment. |
What is the author’s attitude towards the future of the environment?
| A．Hopeful. | B．Unconcerned | C．Doubtful | D．Objective |
New rules will let millions of Americans know where more of their food comes from. The law is known as COOL -- Country of Origin Labeling(标签).
American congress first passed the law in 2002. Stores have had to label seafood by country of origin since 2005. But industry pressure delayed other requirements until last week.
Products that must now be labeled include fresh fruits and vegetables, muscle meats and some kinds of nuts. But the rules are complex, and many foods are not included. For example, organ meats are free to be labeled. So are processed foods, including cooked or smoked foods.
The same food may sometimes have to be labeled and other times not. Fresh or frozen peas, for example, have to be labeled but not canned peas. Foods that are mixed with other foods are also excluded. Mixed nuts, for example, do not need to be labeled. The same is true of a salad mix that contains different things like lettuce and carrots. Or a fruit cup that combines different fruits. Also, the law doesn’t include restaurants and other food service organizations. Department of Agriculture officials say the law is really meant for larger grocery stores.
The United States has imported more and more food in recent years to save money and expand choices. Country-of-origin labeling has become more common lately but has still been limited in many stores.
Food safety is one reason why some shoppers pay close attention to where foods came from. For example, when a large number of people recently got sick from salmonella(沙门菌病), officials blamed peppers from Mexico. Yet the last big food scare involved spinach grown in California. But labeling is also a way for people to know they are getting what they want. Some want to buy local foods or foods from a particular country.
The country-of-origin labeling law gives stores 30 days to correct any violations(违反) that are found. Stores and suppliers that are found to be deliberately violating the law could be fined 1,000 dollars per violation. Federal inspectors are not to take action to enforce the law for six months to give time for an education campaign.
Some food safety activists say they are generally pleased with the law. They call it a good step that will give people more useful information. Why has more and more food been imported to the United States in recent years?
| A．It is economical and provides people with more choices. |
| B．Foreign food is of higher quality than native food. |
| C．Americans need more and more food recently. |
| D．The United States is short of food supply. |
Consumers are more concerned about where foods come from because________.
| A．they are curious about the origin of the food. |
| B．most of them are particular about the tastes |
| C．they are concerned about food safety |
| D．most of them are food safety activists |
The new rules of the country-of-origin labeling law will come into effect________.
| A．right now | B．in a month | C．in three months | D．in half a year |
Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
| A．Store owners are most likely to be the supporters of the law. |
| B．The government of America will possibly forbid importing peppers from Mexico. |
| C．Federal inspectors couldn’t take measures to enforce the law. |
| D．Most Americans prefer imported vegetables to the vegetables grown in local places. |
My favorite English teacher could draw humor out of the driest material. It wasn’t forced on us either. He took Samuel Johnson’s dictionary, Addison’s essays, and many other literary wonders from the eighteenth century and made them hilarious, even at eight o’clock in the morning. The thing that amazed me most was that the first time I read these works on my own, some of them seemed dead, but the second time, after his explanation, I couldn’t believe that I hadn’t seen the humor. The stories and poems and plays were suddenly filled with allusions(典故) and irony and hilarious moments. I learned more from him than from any other teacher.
My least favorite English teacher also made people laugh. Some students found him to be wonderfully funny. Many others did not. He assigned journals over a six-week period, to be written every day. At the end of the six weeks I had a notebook full of bits and pieces about my ideas, short stories, reactions to what we had read, and so on. Our teacher announced that we would be grading each other’s journals. Mine was passed to Joe, that class clown, who always behaved in a funny or silly way. He saw it fit to make a joke of and said, “This writing isn’t fit to line the bottom of a birdcage.” Our teacher laughed at that funny remark. It hurt me so much that the anger from it has driven my writing and teaching ever since.
So what makes the difference? Humor is one of the most powerful tools teachers or writers have. It can build up students and classes and make them excited about literature and writing, or it can tear them apart. It is true that humor is either productive or counter-productive and self-defeating. The passage mainly discusses ________.
| A．teaching | B．literature | C．humor | D．knowledge |
The underlined word “hilarious” in Paragraph 1 probably means ________.
| A．funny | B．tiring | C．inspiring | D．brilliant |
The English teacher the writer disliked most ________.
| A．was not able to make students laugh |
| B．hurt his student’s feelings |
| C．didn’t let his students do the grading |
| D．had no sense of humor |
Kids at the Interlake School Division were the first Canadian students to take part in a program to send experiments to the International Space Station.(ISS).
Jordan Schott and three other sixth grade students came up with the idea to test royal jelly(蜂王浆) in space . Their experiment came very close to be tested on the space station. “We were seeing if we could send it to space, and if it would lose its nutritional value” faster and or slower, ”said Schott. Schott is one of the 18 students in the Space Knights Club at Woodlands Elementary School, part of the Interlake School Division. Over 450 students from the Division took part in the program.
“I thought we were just students and we couldn’t do much in the way of that. It’s a way to communicate with people up there ,” said Braeden Clark, a seventh grade student who is also in the club.
The astronauts shared what they learned with their school with a full day of activities all about science and space.
Teacher Maria Nickel is the organizer of the club. She said the day was great for students to learn what they could do. “Space is one of those great things that get kids excited, but it also gives them the chance to do so much. They can be an astronaut; they can be an engineer, ”She said.
The day was held in honour of Chris Hadfield, a Canadian astronaut now in the Internal Space Station. “It gives kids someone more to look up to. Here’s a real hero to look up to who’s doing it all, doing it through education,” said Nickel.
Jordan Schott thinks it’s really cool. “To me it seems so cool how people can go up to space, and science is something I’ve always liked,” She said. Schott says she wants to follow in the footsteps of Hadfield and be an astronaut when she gets older.
One of the winning experiments in the competition was produced by students from Argyle, Manitoba. It will travel to the space station in the fall of 2013.The program at the Interlake School Division________-
| A．was carried out by 18 students. |
| B．was to test royal jelly in space |
| C．was designed to send experiments to the ISS |
| D．allowed the first students to connect with the ISS |
We can infer from the text that Maria Nickel__________-
| A．thinks it’s cool to live in the ISS |
| B．encourages students to be astronauts |
| C．helps students develop their interest in space |
| D．thinks Chris Hadfield sets a good example to the students |
What do we know Jordan Schott?
| A．She is seventh grader |
| B．She dreams of being an engineer |
| C．She respects Chris Hadfield very much |
| D．She didn’t like science when she was young |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．Kids carry out experiments for the ISS. |
| B．Winners of competitions travel to the ISS. |
| C．Astronauts do activities together with students |
| D．Interlake School Division trains students to be astronauts. |
Every day, 15-year-old Martha wrote on the Internet about the meal she ate at school. She also took pictures of the food. However, Martha was very honest about the food. She did not just describe the food. She judged the taste and health of the food.
Martha also began to use her blog for an important reason. She began to raise money for the organization Mary’s Meals in the East African country of Malawi. It provides food food for children in schools for free. Martha encouraged her readers to send money to Mary’s Meals to help build a kitchen.
But then, Martha began to have a problem. Many people read her blog. She became big news. The news stories showed that the food at Martha’s school was not always healthy. And that made some people angry. So the school officials decided to stop Martha’s blog. They said that she could not take her camera to school.
But an amazing thing happened. Many people began sending messages of support across the Internet. Martha’s story was even bigger than before. Now the officials had to change their minds. A few days later, Martha was again writing her blog. But more than that, people had sent a lot of money for the Malawi school children. Martha had hoped to raise about 10,000 dollars. But the total reached 10,000 dollars and still kept on growing!
Martha’s blog also helped to improve meals at her school. One day she wrote: As we waited for dinner we were told that we are allowed to eat as much fruit and bread as we want.
No one knows what will happen to Martha’s blog in future. But already this little girl has helped to change the eating experience of many children just by sharing on the Internet pictures of her school meals. Martha wrote about her school meals on her blog to ______
| A．invite students to judge the food |
| B．show the terrible taste of food |
| C．express her opinion about the food |
| D．ask the school t improve the food |
The organization Mary’s Meals _______
| A．was set up by Martha |
| B．provides free school meals |
| C．is an international organization |
| D．help poor families build kitchens |
Why did the school officials want to prevent Martha writing her blog?
| A．It had a bad influence on her study. |
| B．Some people were upset by it content. |
| C．Taking pictures needs a lot of time. |
| D．Many other students started to copy her. |
What’s the best title for the text?
| A．School meals | B．Mary’s Meals |
| C．Power of the Internet | D．Martha shares her food |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号