The naive fellow has never met a thief and firmly believes that he lives in a world without thieves. And, the female thief fights against other thieves only to protect this guy's "daydream". Sound strange? Then go to the cinema to see what happens in "A World Without Thieves" (Tianxia Wuzei). It's the latest offering from Chinese director Feng Xiaogang. The film will hit mainland cinemas on December 9, 2004.
Adapted from the book of the same name, it tells the story of a couple, both of them skillful thieves, who find their consciences on a thief-filled train.
Wang Bo (Andy Lau, or Liu Dehua) is a master pickpocket from Hong Kong. Wang Li (Rene Liu, or Liu Ruoying) is a "talented" cheat from Taiwan. They're partners in crime and passion, and cheat their way across China, until one day they run into Shagen (Wang Baoqiang) at a railway station.
An orphan since birth, Shagen spends more time with wolves than with men. He believes in the basic goodness of human nature and is convinced that he lives in a world without thieves. Having saved up 60,000 yuan after five years of hard work, he decides to go back to his hometown, build a house and get married.
However, the train Shagen boards is full of thieves. Besides Wang Bo and Wang Li, there is a gang of highwaymen under the control of Uncle Bill (Ge You). While Bill's men are trying to get Shagen's savings, Wang Li takes it on herself to be his protector.
Feng Xiaogang has become a supplier of New Year's movies in China. For four consecutive years, he has caused a nationwide media excitement at the end of each year. That started with 1998's "The Dream Factory" (Jiafang Yifang) and ran to last year's "Cell phone" (Shouji).
With "A World without Thieves", Feng tries his hand at something beyond his standard humor. For the first time, he employs a lot of special effects.
"I do like comedy, but I also want to know where my limits lie," said Feng, "The film is an experiment. It has special skills, love between thieves, as well as the rediscovery of conscience."
Feng says the film is more like a fairy tale: It's two thieves trying to protect someone's "daydream". "You see, a fairy tale may expose more about life and human nature than another story. You don't change the world with a film, but you make people see and feel innocence, and that's my power. "
46. The underlined word “naive” means _________.
A. lovely B. interesting C. innocent D. smart
47. Which of the following films is not directed by Feng Xiaogang?
A. Red River Valley B. A World Without Thieves
C. The Dream Factory D. Cellphone
48. It can be inferred from the text that _________.
A. Feng Xiaogang has directed more than three films since 1998.
B. This film was first on show on December 9, 2004.
C. Wang Bo and Wang Li are in the charge of Uncle Bill.
D. Feng Xiaogang likes fairy tales.
49. Which of the following statements best expresses the main idea of the passage?
A. Introduction of Feng Xiaogang
B. Introduction of Liu Dehua
C. Brief introduction of Feng’s film — A World Without Thieves
D. Feng’s opinion about his film — A World Without Thieves
50. What’s Feng’s opinion about this film?
A. All the World is peaceful and perfect objects.
B. The power of the film is to make people see and feel innocence.
C. It’s only a fairy tale.
D. Let people rediscover their consciences by this film.
The freezing Northeast hasn’t been a terribly fun place to spend time this winter, so when the chance came for a weekend to Sarasota, Florida, my bags were packed before you could say “sunshine”. I left for the land of warmth and vitamin C(维生素C), thinking of beaches and orange trees. When we touched down to blue skies and warm air, I sent up a small prayer of gratefulness. Swimming pools, wine tasting, and pink sunsets(at normal evening hours, not 4 in the afternoon) filled the weekend, but the best part- particularly to my taste, dulled by months of cold- weather root vegetables- was a 7 a.m. adventure to the Sarasota farmers’ market that proved to be more than worth the early wake-up call.
The market, which was founded in 1979, sets up its tents every Saturday from 7:00 am to 1 p.m, rain or shine, along North Lemon and State streets. Baskets of perfect red strawberries, the red-painted sides of the Java Dawg coffee truck; and most of all, the tomatoes: amazing, large, soft and round red tomatoes.
Disappointed by many a broken, vine-ripened(蔓上成熟的) promise, I’ve refused to buy winter tomatoes for years. No matter how attractive they look in the store, once I get them home they’re dry, hard, and tasteless. But I homed in, with uncertainty, on one particular table at the Brown’s Grove Farm’s stand, full of fresh and soft tomatoes the size of my fist. These were the real deal- and at that moment, I realized that the best part of Sarasota in winter was going to be eating things that back home in New York I wouldn’t be experiencing again for months.
Delighted as I was by the tomatoes in sight, my happiness deepened when I learned that Brown’s Grove Farm is one of the suppliers for Jack Dusty, a newly opened restaurant at the Sarasota Ritz Carlton, where- luckily for me- I was planning to have dinner that very night. Without even seeing the menu, I knew I’d be ordering every tomato on it.
What did the author think of her winter life in New York?
| A．Exciting. | B．Boring. | C．Relaxing. | D．Annoying. |
What made the author’s getting up late early worthwhile?
| A．Having a swim. |
| B．Breathing in fresh air. |
| C．Walking in the morning sun. |
| D．Visiting a local farmer’s market. |
What can we learn about tomatoes sold in New York in winter?
| A．They are soft. | B．They look nice. |
| C．They taste great. | D．They are juicy. |
What was the author going to that evening?
| A．Go to a farm. | B．Check into a hotel. |
| C．Eat in a restaurant. | D．Buy fresh vegetables. |
Our monthly talks start at 19:30 on the first Thursday of each month except August. Admission is at normal charges and you don’t need to book. They end around 21:00.
November 7th
The Canal Pioneers, by Chris Lewis. James Brindley is recognized as one of the leading early canal engineers. He was also a major player in training others in the art of canal planning and building. Chris Lewis will explain how Brindley made such a positive contribution to the education of that group of early “civil engineers”.
December 5th
Ice for the Metropolis, by Malcolm Tucker. Well before the arrival of freezers, there was a demand for ice for food preservation and catering, Malcolm will explain the history of importing natural ice and the technology of building ice wells, and how London’s ice trade grew.
February 6th
An Update on the Cotsword Canals, by Liz Payne. The Stroudwater Canal is moving towards reopening. The Thames and Severn Canal will take a little longer. We will have a report on the present state of play.
March 6th
Eyots and Aits- Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers. The Thames has many islands. Miranda has undertaken a review of all of them. She will tell us about those of greatest interest.
Online bookings:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/book
More into:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson
London Canal Museum
12-13 New Wharf Road, London NI 9RT
www.canalmuseum.org.uk www.canalmuseum.mobi
Tel:020 77130836
When is the talk on James Brindley?
| A．February 6th. | B．March 6th. |
| C．November 7th. | D．December 5th. |
What is the topic of the talk in February?
| A．The Canal Pioneers. |
| B．Ice for the Metropolis |
| C．Eyots and Aits- Thames Islands |
| D．An Update on the Cotsword Canals |
Who will give the talk on the islands in the Thames.
| A．Miranda Vickers | B．Malcolm Tucker |
| C．Chris Lewis | D．Liz Payne |
When I was nine years old, I loved to go fishing with my dad. But the only thing that wasn’t very fun about it was that he could catch many fish while I couldn’t catch anything. I usually got pretty upset and kept asking him why. He always answered, “Son, if you want to catch a fish, you have to think like a fish”, I remember being even more upset then because, “I’m not a fish!” I didn’t know how to think like a fish. Besides, I reasoned, how could what I think influence what a fish does?
As I got a little older I began to understand what my dad really meant. So, I read some books on fish. And I even joined the local fishing club and started attending the monthly meetings. I learned that a fish is a cold-blooded animal and therefore is very sensitive to water temperature. That is why fish prefer shallow water to deep water because the former is warmer. Besides, water is usually warmer in direct sunlight than in the shade. Yet, fish don’t have any eyelids(眼皮) and the sun hurts their eyes… The more I understood fish, the more I became effective at finding and catching them.
When I grew up and entered the business world, I remember hearing my first boss say, “We all need to think like salespeople.” But it didn’t completely make sense. My dad never once said, “If you want to catch a fish you need to think like a fisherman.” What he said was, “You need to think like a fish.” Years later, with great efforts to promote long-term services to people much older and richer than me, I gradually learned what we all need is to think more like customers. It is not an easy job. I will show you how in the following chapters.Why was the author upset in fishing trips when he was nine?
| A．He could not catch a fish. |
| B．His father was not patient with him. |
| C．His father did not teach him fishing. |
| D．He could not influence a fish as his father did. |
What did the author’s father really mean?
| A．To read about fish. |
| B．To learn fishing by oneself. |
| C．To understand what fish think. |
| D．To study fishing in many ways. |
According to the author, fish are most likely to be found _________.
| A．in deep water on sunny days |
| B．in deep water on cloudy days |
| C．in shallow water under sunligh |
| D．in shallow water under waterside trees. |
After entering the business world, the author found _________.
| A．it easy to think like a customer |
| B．his father’s fishing advice inspiring |
| C．his first boss’s sales ideas reasonable |
| D．it difficult to sell services to poor people |
Peter loved to shop used articles. Almost a month ago, he bought popular word game that used little pieces of wood with different letters on them. As he was purchasing it, the salesgirl said, “Uh, look, the game box hasn’t even been opened yet. That might be worth some money. ”
Peter examined the box, and, sure enough, it was completely covered in factory-sealed plastic. And he saw a date of 1973 on the back of the box.
“You should put that up for auction (拍卖) on the Internet, and see what happens.” the salesgirl said.
“Yes, you’re right. People like something rare.” Peter agreed, “I can’t imagine there being very many unopened boxes of this game still around 40 years later.”
“Don’t forget to tell me if you sell it.” the salesgirl smiled.
“No problem.” Peter said.
After he got home, Peter went online to several auction websites looking for his game. But he couldn’t find it. Then he typed in the name of the word game and hit Search. The search result was 543 websites containing information about the changes of the game. Over the years, the game had been produced using letters in different sizes and game boards in different colors. He also found some lists of game fans looking for various versions of the game. Peter emailed some of them, telling them what he had.
Two weeks later, Peter went back to the shop.
“Hello. Do you still remember the unopened word game?”
The salesgirl looked at him for a second, then recognized him and said, “Oh, hi!”
”I’ve got something for you,” Peter said. “I sold the game and made $1,000. Thank you for your suggestion.” He handed her three $ 100 bills.
“Wow!” the salesgirl cried out. “Thank you, I never expected it.”Which of the following best describes Peter’s word game?
| A．It was made around 40 years ago. |
| B．It had game boards in different sizes. |
| C．It was kept in a plastic bag with a seal. |
| D．It had little pieces of wood in different colors. |
What did the salesgirl probably think of Peter’s word game?
| A．Old and handy. | B．Rare and valuable. |
| C．Classic and attractive. | D．Colorful and interesting |
What happened at the end of the story?
| A．Peter gave the girl $300 as a reward. |
| B．The salesgirl became Peter’s friend. |
| C．Peter returned the word game for $ 1,000. |
| D．The salesgirl felt confused to see Peter again. |
What is the main theme of the story?
| A．It’s important to keep a promise. |
| B．It’s great to share in other people’s happiness. |
| C．We should be grateful for the help from others. |
| D．Something rare is worth a large amount of money. |
There are many places to go on safari（观赏野生动物）in Africa, but riding a horse through the flooded waters of Botswana's Okavango Delta must rank as one of the world's most exciting wildlife journeys.
Several safari camps operate as the base for this adventure, providing unique rides twice a day to explore deep into the delta. The camps have excellent horses, professional guides and lots of support workers. They have a reputation for providing a great riding experience.
The morning ride, when the guides take you to beautiful, shallow lakes full of water lilies, tends to be more active. It is unlike any other riding experience. With rainbows forming in the splashing water around you and the sound of huge drops of water bouncing off your body and face，it is truly exciting. You are very likely to come across large wild animals, too. On horseback it is possible to get quite close to elephants, giraffes and many other animals. The sense of excitement and tension levels rise suddenly though, as does your heart rate, as you move closer to them.
In the evening, rides are usually at a more relaxed and unhurried pace, with golden light streaming across the grassy delta and the animals coming out to eat and drink. Sedate though they are, rides at this time of day are still very impressive. As the sun's rays pass through the dust kicked up by the horses, the romance of Africa comes to life.
Back at the camp you can kick off your boots and enjoy excellent food and wine. Looking back on your day, you will find it hard to deny that a horseback Safari is as close as you will ever come to answering the call of the wild.What does the underlined word "They" refer to?
| A．Flooded waters | B．Wildlife journeys |
| C．Safari camps | D．Unique rides |
What does the author find most exciting about a horseback safari?
| A．Seeing and feeling the real African life. |
| B．Enjoying good food and wine at the camp. |
| C．Hunting large animals just as our ancestors did. |
| D．Being part of the scene and getting close to animals. |
What does the underlined word "Sedate" probably mean?
| A．Wild and romantic | B．Slow and peaceful |
| C．Hungry and thirsty | D．Active and excited |
The author introduces the riding experience in the OKavango Delta mainly by________.
| A．following space order | B．following time order |
| C．making classifications | D．Giving examples |
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