In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an intemational festival of music,dance and theatre in Edinburgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.
At the same time, the “Fringe” appeared as a challenge to the official festival.Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947,in the belief that everyone should have the right to perform,and they did so in a public house disused for years.
Soon,groups of studentsfirstly from Edinburgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge,Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre by little-known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of Edinburgh.
Today the “Fringe”,once less recognized, has far outgrown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre,music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yet as early as 1959,with only 19 theatre groups performing,some said it was getting too big.
A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971, and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the number rises to 150 during August itself. In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows by over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. More than 1,25 million tickets were sold.Point was the purpose of Edinburgh Festival at he beginning?
| A．To bring Europe together again. |
| B．To honor heroes of World War 11. |
| C．To introduce young theatre groups. |
| D．To attract great artists from Europe. |
Why did some uninvited theatre groups come to Edinburgh in 1947?
| A．They owned a public house there. |
| B．They came to take up a challenge. |
| C．They thought they were also famous. |
| D．They wanted to take part in the festival. |
Who joined the "Fringe" after it appeared?
| A．they owned a public house there |
| B．University students. |
| C．人rusts from around the world. |
| D．Performers of music and dance. |
We may learn from the text that Edinburgh Festival.
| A．has become a non-official event |
| B．has gone beyond an art festival |
| C．gives shows all year round |
| D．keeps growing rapidly |
I was reading these interesting stories behind a group of great logos (标志) in the world. Personally Nike is my favorite one—it’s so simple. And I liked the stories behind them, which made me forget all other things. McDonald’s, Apple, Mercedes Benz and Adidas own great logos as well, and they are among my favorites.
Nike
In the Greek myth, Nike is the goddess of victory and the source of inspiration for soldiers. This logo represents the wing in the famous statue of the Greek goddess. Nike’s logo was designed by Carolyn Davidson in 1971 for $ 35, and was registered as a trademark in 1995.
McDonald’s
The logo was designed in 1962 by Jim Schindler to resemble the archshaped(拱形的) signs on the side of the company’s then walk-up hamburger stand. Later on, the two golden arches were combined together to form the M. The McDonald’s name was added to the logo in 1968.
Apple
There are different stories behind Apple’s logo. The first logo was a reference to the religious story of Adam and Eve, in which the apple represented the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. One year later, the second logo was designed in 1977 by Steven Jobs and Ronald Wayne, and it described Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple tree. This logo didn’t stay long. One year later it was replaced almost immediately by graphic designer Rob Janoff’s “ rainbow apple”, a rainbow- colored silhouette (轮廓) of an apple with a bite taken out of it. And then the rainbow- colored apple was replaced by the one- colored logo in 1998. It has not been changed so far.
Mercedes Benz
The Mercedes Benz logo, which was originally created by Gottlieb Daimler in 1909, consists of a simple description of a three- pointed star that represents its rule of the land, the sea and the air. The company was founded by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach. Marcedes is the name of Maybach’s elder daughter, while Benz came as a result of a combination with Benz, Cie.and DMG in 1926.
Adidas
The Adidas logo, which was created by the founder of the company Adi Dassler, represents mountains, pointing towards the challenges that are seen ahead and goals that can be achieved. The logo was used for the first time in 1976.What does the author think of the stories of the great logos?
| A．They are boring | B．They are out of date. |
| C．They are attractive | D．They are practical |
What does Nike’s logo stand for?
| A．The goddess of victory |
| B．The source of inspiration for soldiers |
| C．The statue of the Greek goddess |
| D．The wing of the Greek goddess. |
We can learn that Apple’s present logo is______.
| A．the religious story of Adam and Eve |
| B．a bitten apple with only one color |
| C．Newton’s sitting under an apple tree |
| D．the rainbow- colored bitten apple |
Which of the following time orders describes the births of the great logos?
| A．Mercedes Benz – McDonald’s – Nike – Apple. |
| B．Nike – McDonald’s – Apple – Mercedes Benz. |
| C．McDonald’s – Apple – Nike – Mercedes Benz. |
| D．Nike –Mercedes Benz –McDonald’s – Apple, |
I appreciate how biking to work allows me to be outside for at least a small part of my day. I’m a senior program director. If I didn’t bike to work, I’d spend my weekdays almost entirely indoors—underground tunnel. On the bike, I get trees, air and a great way to get to know city neighborhoods. Of course, I also get bad weather and city traffic. But it’s worth the trade-off. The weather’s not often bad, and rain and snow have their charms.
I’ve been cycling to work since the late 1990s. I started when the city was doing some construction in the subways and rerouting passengers, which would have lengthened my trip considerably. I tried riding my sister- in- law’s bike to work one day and liked it, so I bought my own. Even though I hadn’t biked since I was a child, I got back into it right away.
I bike during all four seasons. In summer, I wear shorts and a T- shirt and carry a messenger bag over my shoulder for my lunch and anything else I need. Once at the office, I change into business- casual clothes. In winter, I wear layers and a thin hat under my helmet. A cold winter day can be the best time to be on a bicycle. When the air is clear, free of oppressive summer haze, the city can look beautiful.
Biking to work also comes in handy during the workday itself. I have a rack (网架) on the back of my bike that accommodates panniers that allow me to pick up groceries. During work hours, a colleague will occasionally need to send or retrieve documents by messenger. If I have the time, I volunteer. Pedaling 30 blocks and back is a nice way to take a break from work—and to save the office a few bucks on messenger fees.
I’m sure that some people thinking my mode of transportation might be afraid of Midtown traffic. I’m no hero; I don’t want to get hurt riding to work. It just takes time getting used to it. There’s a risk, but all travel has risks. They’re worth it to me.Which is the reason for the author cycling to work?
| A．To save money | B．To lose weight |
| C．To smell the roses outside | D．To protect the environment |
What made the author began to ride a bike to work?
| A．The author bought his own bike. |
| B．His sister- in- law lent him a bike. |
| C．There were few bikes on the street then. |
| D．The subway construction in the city was under way. |
The underlined phrase “come in handy” most probably means ______ ?
| A．useful | B．available | C．valuable | D．economical |
In the last paragraph, the author implies that _______.
| A．He is not a hero. |
| B．He will go on cycling to work. |
| C．All travel has risks. |
| D．He is afraid of Midtown traffic. |
The cruelty and inhumanity (残暴) of the war is just as cruel an inhumane through the eyes of a horse. Or at least in the eyes of Joey, the star of War Horse (《 战马》). The film has come out in cinemas on February 28, 2012 on the Chinese mainland.
The story starts on a farm in Devon, southwest England. The Narracott family—Dad, Mum, and their teenage son Albert – rent the farm. When Dad buys a beautiful horse, Albert falls in love with him. He trains him and names him Joey. They become as close as it is possible for a human and an animal to be.
But World War I breaks out. Dad has to sell the horse to an English Army officer to pay the rent. Joey and Albert can no longer be together. Albert promises Joey that they’ll find each other again one day. Then Albert goes on a journey to search for his friend.
But the four years of war are about Joey’s journey. He starts as the mount (坐骑) of the English officer. Then he becomes a German workhorse. He is given to a French teenager and her grandpa. He has to face the tanks on the front line. The story ends in a sunset scene on the battlefield. Albert has become a soldier. The two are reunited.
Battle scenes are part of the story , but the movie’s Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg said that War Horse is not a war movie.
“I consider it to be a love between a horse and a young man… It’s about the connectivity (联系) that an animal can bring to human characters,” Spielberg said.
Roger Moore of the Chicago Tribune said Spielberg manages in the film to “measure a man by how he acts toward animals”.
In one scene, a British soldier and a German soldier join hands to vindicate Joey.
“ Men on opposing (对立的) sides of war find their shared humanity in their love of animals in War Horse, I appreciated this work.” Moore concluded.Why did Albert’s father sell the horse to an English Army officer?
| A．to make money for his son’s school fees. |
| B．to earn the officer’s admiration. |
| C．to pay the rent of the farmland. |
| D．The family could not afford the horse’s cost. |
According to the director’s description, which statement is true?
| A．The movie was just talking about war. |
| B．The movie reflected the love between the human being and animal. |
| C．The movie fully represented human’s cruelty. |
| D．The key role of the movie was only the young man. |
The underlined word “vindicate” refers to ______.
| A．rescue | B．support | C．beat | D．catch |
Judging from the last paragraph, what’s Moore’s attitude towards the movie?
| A．Doubtful. | B．Negative. | C．Neutral. | D．Supportive. |
A German study suggests that people who were too optimistic（乐观）about their future actually faced greater risk of disability or death within 10 years than those pessimists（悲观主义者）who expected their future to be worse.
The paper, published this March in Psychology and Aging, examined health and welfare surveys from roughly 40,000 Germans between ages 18 and 96. The surveys were conducted every year from 1993 to 2003.
Survey respondents (受访者) were asked to estimate their present and future life satisfaction on a scale of 0 to 10, among other questions.
The researchers found that young adults (age 18 to 39) routinely overestimated their future life satisfaction, while middle-aged adults (age 40 to 64) more accurately predicted how they would feel in the future. Adults of 65 and older, however, were far more likely to underestimate their future life satisfaction. Not only did they feel more satisfied than they thought they would, the older pessimists seemed to suffer a lower ratio (比率) of disability and death for the study period.
“We observed that being too optimistic in predicting a better future than actually observed was associated with a greater risk of disability and a greater risk of death within the following decade,” wrote Frieder R. Lang, a professor at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg.
Lang and his colleagues believed that people who were pessimistic about their future may be more careful about their actions than people who expected a rosy future.
“Seeing a dark future may encourage positive evaluations of the actual self and may contribute to taking improved precautions (预防措施),” the authors wrote.
Surprisingly, compared with those in poor health or who had low incomes, respondents who enjoyed good health or income were associated with expecting a greater decline(下降). Also, the researchers said that higher income was related to a greater risk of disability.
The authors of the study noted that there were limitations to their conclusions. Illness, medical treatment and personal loss could also have driven health outcomes.
However, the researchers said a pattern was clear. “We found that from early to late adulthood, individuals adapt their expectations of future life satisfaction from optimistic, to accurate, to pessimistic,” the authors concluded.According to the study, who made the most accurate prediction of their future life satisfaction?
| A．Optimistic adults. | B．Middle-aged adults. |
| C．Adults in poor health. | D．Adults of lower income. |
Pessimism may be positive in some way because it causes people ______.
| A．to fully enjoy their present life |
| B．to estimate their contribution accurately |
| C．to take measures against potential risks |
| D．to value health more highly than wealth |
How do people of higher income see their future?
| A．They will earn less money. |
| B．They will become pessimistic. |
| C．They will suffer mental illness. |
| D．They will have less time to enjoy life. |
What is the clear conclusion of the study?
| A．Pessimism guarantees chances of survival. |
| B．Good financial condition leads to good health. |
| C．Medical treatment determines health outcomes. |
| D．Expectations of future life satisfaction decline with age. |
An idea that started in Seattle's public library has spread throughout America and beyond. The concept is simple: help to build a sense of community in a city by getting everyone to read the same book at the same time.
In addition to encouraging reading as a pursuit (追求) to be enjoyed by all, the program allows strangers to communicate by discussing the book on the bus, as well as promoting reading as an experience to be shared in families and schools. The idea came from Seattle librarian Nancy Pearl who launched (发起）the "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book " project in 1998. Her original program used author visits, study guides and book discussion groups to bring people together with a book, but the idea has since expanded to many other American cities, and even to Hong Kong.
In Chicago, the mayor(市长）appeared on television to announce the choice of To Kill a Mockingbird as the first book in the "One Book, One Chicago" program. As a result, reading clubs and neighbourhood groups sprang up around the city. Across the US, stories emerged of parents and children reading to each other at night and strangers chatting away on the bus about plot and character.
The only problem arose in New York, where local readers could not decide on one book to represent the huge and diverse population. This may show that the idea works best in medium-sized cities or large towns, where a greater sense of unity(一致）can be achieved .Or it may show that New Yorkers rather missed the point, putting all their energy and passion into the choice of the book rather than discussion about a book itself.
Ultimately, as Nancy points out, the level of success is not measured by how many people read a book, but by how many people are enriched by the process, or have enjoyed speaking to someone with whom they would not otherwise have shared a word.What is the purpose of the project launched by Nancy?
| A．To invite authors to guide readers. |
| B．To encourage people to read and share. |
| C．To involve people in community service. |
| D．To promote the friendship between cities. |
Why was it difficult for New Yorkers to carry out the project?
| A．They had little interest in reading. |
| B．They were too busy to read a book. |
| C．They came from many different backgrounds |
| D．They lacked support from the local government |
The underlined words “shared a word” in Paragraph 5 probably mean
| A．exchanged ideas with each other |
| B．discussed the meaning of a word |
| C．gained life experience |
| D．used the same language |
According to Nancy, the degree of success of the project is judged by
| A．the careful selection of a proper book |
| B．the growing popularity of the writers |
| C．the number of people who benefit from reading. |
| D．the number of books that each person reads. |
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