(湘郡生试题) I was really surprised to find out that the first public showings of wireless TV transmissions took 41 way back in 1925. It took another three years before there was any regular public broadcasting. 42 , I think people must have found 43 quite a delight when color TV was first broadcast in 1929. 44 , within the next 65 years, people would be able to choose 45 to watch from a 46 of 200 different channels because 47 cable TV. It is reported 48 in 1998, 66 percent of households in the USA had cable TV.
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Thanksgiving day is celebrated mainly in America and Canada. Much like the annual harvest festivals celebrated in other countries throughout the world, Thanksgiving Day was meant to pay our homage to the Almighty for this bountiful harvest. While the purpose and origin of the concept remains the same, the day of its celebration differs from country to country. In the United States, the holiday is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November while in Canada (which has an early harvest cycle and season), the holiday is observed on the second Monday in October, known as the Columbus Day. Much like the Christian Thanksgiving day, it is celebrated with pomp and show.
Since 1930, the end of Thanksgiving season marks the beginning of Christmas shopping season. In Canada, Thanksgiving holiday lasts for only three days but the time period may vary in the US. Let's have a look at the brief history of Thanksgiving in North America, U.S. and Canada:
In North America: Thanksgiving Day was first celebrated on September 8, 1565 in St. Augustine when Pedro Menendez de Aviles and his men shared a feast with the natives. After that Pilgrims held a three days feast to make merriment on their enormous harvest.
In United States: The immigrants who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were basically members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). They took shelter in Netherlands but soon were disgusted by their lifestyle. They settled in United States with a desire for a better lifestyle. But their beginning was horrendous. The climate was unfavorable and many of them died. But in 1621 they hard turmoil bore fruits for them as there was a huge harvest. They celebrated it with a feast with 91 Indians who had helped them during their harsh times.
Thanksgiving was celebrated after that at irregular intervals until Franklin Roosevelt, had set it one week to the next-to-last Thursday of November in order keeping an eye on commercial benefits as Christmas was nearby. Allegations were brought against this decision, which made the President to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally set by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.
In Canada: Probably the Americans who migrated to Canada after American Independence brought with them the practices of Thanksgiving. Initially it was celebrated in English Canadian Society but later it became a countrywide practice. Formally, Canadian Thanksgiving Day was celebrated on April 5, 1872 on behalf of the Prince of Wales' recovery from illness. Innumerable transformations took place before the date of celebration finally settled on the second Monday in October in 1957.
复现课文
The Human Development Report
In the year 2000，147 world leaders to work together to reduce poverty by 2015 or
. From this agreement
the Human Development Report.
One of the most important of this report is the Human development Index. This
the achievements of 175 countries. The Index __
____ a country’s achievement _
___ three ways: life expectancy, education and income. The Index has some ___
____. Norway is at the ___
____ of the list, _
___ the US is __
__ number 7. The bottom ten countries are all African countries, __
_ Sierra Leone at the ___
__ of the list.
The report ____ eight Development Goals and gives _
_ of successful development. _
__, the __
___ are still great. In developing countries, about 115 million children are not being __
__. More than 1 billion people in developing countries do not drink _
__ water.
The report ___ that we are making some _
__ but we need to make greater __
__. __
_, the countries that give the most money are the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
根据课文内容填空
France is Europe’s third largest country and the United Kingdom the English Channel. Paris is the capital and largest city of France, The River Seine. It by more than eight million tourists every year. The most popular place for tourists is the Eiffel Tower, of Paris. The Louvre, one of the world’s largest art galleries, in the city.
Spain is the south of France. Its capital, Madrid, is situated in the center of the country. Many people to the city for its exciting night life. Madrid to young people because it is 10 the Real Madrid soccer team and its star players. Barcelona is city of Spain and is situated the northeast coast. One of its famous is the church of the Sagrada Familia. we all know, the 1992 Olympic Games here.
Italy the south of Europe. It a boot. Between Italy and France a mountain range called the Alps. Rome, Venice and Florence are its famous cities. Rome, the Italian capital, is one of the world’s richest historical cities. Venice is situated a hundred small islands. Florence became famous the Renaissance, a great artistic movement which for three hundred years. During this period, some of the greatest painters lived and worked here.
Greece is in the southeast of Europe. Twenty percent of the country by islands. Athens the capital of France, the birthplace of western civilization. Greece’s best writers lived in ancient Athens. Their work other writers ever since.
But still there is a danger that grows every year. Airliners get larger. Some airplanes can hold over 300 passengers. And the air itself becomes more and more crowded. If one giant airliner crashed into another in mid-air,600 lives could be lost.
Air traffic controllers tell the pilot exactly when to turn, when to climb，and when to come down. The air traffic controllers around a busy airport like London Heathrow may handle 2, 500 planes a day. Not all of them actually land at the airport. Any plane that flies near the airport comes under the orders of the controllers there.
Recently such a disaster almost happened. One，with 69 passengers, had come from Toronto, and the other, with 176 passengers , from Chicago. An air traffic controller noticed on his radar screen that the two planes were too close to each other. He ordered one to turn to the right and to climb. But he made a mistake. He ordered the wrong plane to do this. Fifteen seconds later it flew directly in front of the second plane. They avoided each other at last. The distance between them was less than that of a large swimming pool.
| A．Even a small mistake could cause a disaster. |
| B．Two large jets were flying towards the airport. |
| C．Nowadays people like traveling more by air than by car. |
| D．Today, air travel is far safer than driving a car on a busy motorway. |
E. This is an example of the danger that grows every year.
F. In a word, air travel is more dangerous，we should choose others.
G. From the moment an airliner takes off to the moment it lands, every movement is watched on radar screens.
任务型阅读（共10小题：每小题1分，满分10分）
请认真阅读下面短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词。
注意：每空格1个单词。
Living in a foreign country is fun, but it isn’t always easy. There are many differences between cultures and although some of these differences are unimportant, they can cause a lot of embarrassments. I spoke to a few foreign friends about how they experienced culture shock in China.
Aubin arrived two months ago from Europe to take part in a language programme in Shanghai. Before he left, he was actually taught the differences between European and Chinese cultures, including everything from table manners to classroom behavior. However, some things have still taken him by surprise. For example, he couldn’t understand why waiters did not want to accept the tips he gave them after meals in restaurants. I had to explain to him that people don’t usually tip in China and that this comes from the Confucian (儒家的，孔子的) idea that one must avoid accepting any undue(不适当的) income.
Another friend, Julia, came to Guangzhou from London to teach at a language school. After a month, she told me that she was really let down(失望的) by her students. I asked her why and she told me that they were so quiet that she was the only person talking in class and it felt like the children were punishing her by making her talk to the walls! I explained to her that the children were simply respectful, but she said that it would be more respectful if they answered her questions.
And it is not only the West and the East that have cultural differences. Even Korea and China, two countries that are very close to each other, have differences too. “I thought Chinese and Korean people were similar in some ways,” said my friend Ji-Hyun in perfect Chinese, “but I was wrong. In ancient times the Chinese used to take their shoes off before entering a house. They don’t do that anymore, but Korean people still do! I keep getting that wrong even though I’ve been here for five years!”
Luckily, whether we take our shoes off or not, or leave unnecessary tips, the world still runs perfectly. In my opinion, cultural differences should simply be seen as a way of making life interesting. Imagine how boring it would be if we all did everything in exactly the same way! Learning to understand and respect differences is, after all, what life is all about.
| Living with differences |
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| Theme |
People will meet a |
| Aubin couldn’t understand why waiters refused to |
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| Julia felt really |
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| Ji-Hyun believed there were some similarities between Chinese and Korean people and thought it was wrong that people wore their shoes when they |
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| We should consider cultural differences as a way to We would be |
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