February has long been a month of romance. With the sweet smell of roses in the air, romantic films hit cinemas and love stories fill newspapers and magazines.
On the 14th day, it is a custom for a boy to take his girlfriend out to dinner, buy her flowers and chocolates, write poems, sing to her or even spell out her name with rose petals! This is what you see on Valentines Day, a day named after Valentine who was a priest in the third century Rome. When the emperor decided that single men could become better soldiers than those with wives, he didnt allow marriage.
But Valentine continued to perform marriage ceremonies for young lovers secretly. When his actions were discovered, the emperor sentenced him to death. While in prison, it is said that Valentine fell in love with the daughter of his prison guard. Before his death, he wrote her a letter, which he signed From your Valentine, an expression that is still in use today. Valentine died for what he believed in and so he was made a Saint (圣徒), as well as becoming one of history’s most romantic characters.
Nowadays, Valentine’s Day is also popular among Chinese young people. Some students are planning to make Valentine’s cards for parents, teachers and friends. Others want to hold parties at which they will exchange small gifts and eat heart-shaped cakes. The idea is to have fun and encourage people to share in the spirit of St. Valentine.On the 14th day, a boy will do the following things for his girlfriend but not _________.
| A．marry her. |
| B．buy her flowers and chocolates. |
| C．write poems, sing to her or even spelling out her name with rose petals |
| D．take her out to dinner. |
Why did the emperor in Rome not allow marriage in his country?
| A．Because he thought men without wives could be better soldiers |
| B．Because there were few women in his country at that time. |
| C．Because there wasnt enough food for so many people. |
| D．Because he wanted to control the birth rate. |
Valentine was put into prison because ______.
| A．he killed one of the soldiers |
| B．he stole a lot of food |
| C．he didnt obey the emperors order |
| D．he didnt want to be a soldier |
The last paragraph mainly tells us ______.
| A．students in China send cards to their teachers |
| B．it is a good idea to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China |
| C．it is interesting to celebrate Valentine’s Day in China |
| D．Valentine’s Day is also popular in China now |
Many experts say that Billy Wilder changed the history of American movies. He is often called the best movie maker Hollywood has ever had．
He was known for making movies that offered sharp social comment．Wilder was one of the first directors to do this．Between the middle l930s and the l980s，Billy Wilder made almost fifty movies．During that time he received more than twenty nominations(提名)from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences．He won six of the Oscar awards．His movies have been seen by people around the world．
In l944，Billy Wilder made the film Double Indemnity．Some critics said this movie established him as one of the greatest Hollywood directors．Wilder directed The Lost Weekend in 1945．Ray Milland plays the part of an alcoholic writer in the movie．It shows that alcohol rules his life，yet he does not admit it．He hides alcohol in his home and says he is not drinking．
In l950, Wilder made Sunset Boulevard．This movie told of an aging actress in silent movies．She plans to return to movies though facing many problems．In l954，Billy Wilder became an independent producer．The next year，Wilder’s first movie as an independent filmmaker was a huge success．It was The Seven Year Ihch．In this movie，a married man wants to cheat on his wife with some of his friends．In l959，Wilder made a funny movie that was very popular．It was Some Like It Hot．It tells about two jazz musicians being chased by criminals．They decide to wear women’s clothes and join a band in which all the musicians were women．
Wilder died in March，2002．He was ninety—five．A current Hollywood producer said：“Billy Wilder made movies that people will never forget．” The text is mainly about ________
| A．the background of American movies |
| B．Wilder’s achievements in American movies |
| C．Wilder’s attitude to American movies |
| D．the development of American movies |
What was Wilder famous for according to Paragraph 2 ?
| A．Sharp remarks on society in his movies． |
| B．His unique style of making movies． |
| C．More than twenty awards he received. |
| D．Almost fifty movies he produced himself． |
Which of the following made Wilder among the greatest Hollywood directors?
| A．The Lost weekend． | B．Sunset Boulevard． |
| C．Double Indemnity． | D．Some Like It Hot． |
Elizabeth Freeman was born about 1742 to African American parents who were slaves. At the age of six months she was acquired, along with her sister, by John Ashley, a wealthy Massachusetts slaveholders. She became known as “Mumbet” or “Mum Bett.”
For nearly 30 years Mumbet served the Ashley family. One day, Ashley’s wife tried to strike Mumbet’s sister with a spade. Mumbet protected her sister and took the blow instead. Furious, she left the house and refused to come back. When the Ashleys tried to make her return, Mumbet consulted a lawyer, Theodore Sedgewick. With his help, Mumbet sued(起诉) for her freedom.
While serving the Ashleys, Mumbet had listened to many discussions of the new Massachusetts constitution. If the constitution said that all people were free and equal, then she thought it should apply to her. Eventually, Mumbet won her freedom---- the first slave in Massachusetts to do so under the new constitution.
Strangely enough, after the trial, the Ashleys asked Mumbet to come back and work for them as a paid employee. She declined and instead went to work for Segdewick. Mumbet died in 1829, but her legacy lived on in her many descendants(后裔). One of her great-grandchildren was W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founder of the NAACP, and an important writer and spokesperson for African American civil rights.
Mumbet’s tombstone still stands in the Massachusetts cemetery where she was buried. It reads, in part: “She was born a slave and remained a slave and remained a slave for nearly thirty years. She could neither read nor write, yet in her own sphere she had no superior or equal.” What do we know about Mumbet according to Paragraph 1?
| A．She was born a slave |
| B．She was a slaveholder |
| C．She had a famous sister |
| D．She was born into a rich family |
Why did Mumbet run away from the Ashleys?
| A．She found an employer | B．She wanted to be a lawyer |
| C．She was hit and got angry | D．She had to take care of her sister |
What did Mumbet learn from discussions about the new consititution?
| A．She should always obey her owners’ orders |
| B．She should be as free and equal as whites |
| C．How to be a good servant |
| D．How to apply for a job |
What did Mumbet do after the trial?
| A．She chose to work for a lawyer |
| B．She found the NAACP |
| C．She continued to serve the Ashleys |
| D．She went to live with her grandchildren |
We would like to wish all our readers a wonderful winter break. Our January magazine is now in the shops and available digitally. We’re looking forward to sharing more adventures and discoveries with you in 2014, including:
At a crossroads in the Atlantic
As the population of Ascension Island rises up to mark the 200th anniversary of British rule, Fred Pearce wonders what the future might have in store for this strange part of land.
Photostory: On the road again
A selection of images from an exhibition opening this month at the Royal Geographical Society go hand in hand with M Aurel Stein’s early 20th century photographs of the Silk Road.
Dossier: Going underground
Mark Rowe discusses the role that carbon storage can play in the global effort to reduce carbon dioxide emission (排放).
Net loss
Kit Gillet reports from the Gulf of Thailand, whose fisheries (渔场) have been almost destroyed by the commercialization of the Thai fishing industry.
And don’t forget…
…a round-up of the latest geographical and climate science news; a hot spot focus on Turkey; advice on taking photographs in Antarctica; an interview with Lucien Castaing-Taylor, professor of visual arts at Harvard; plus lots, lots more…
Buy your copy now, click here and save up to 35% or call +44 (0)1635 588 496. Geographical is also available in WHSmith and many independent news agents.
Who took photos of the Silk Road?
| A．M Aurel Stein. | B．Fred Pearce. |
| C．Mark Rowe. | D．Lucien Castaing-Taylor. |
If you want to read something about global warming, you can read .
| A．At a crossroads in the Atlantic |
| B．Photostory: On the road again |
| C．Dossier: Going underground |
| D．Net loss |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．Ascension Island has a bright future with more population. |
| B．Commercialization contributes to the loss of fishery in Thai. |
| C．The January edition of 2014 is to come out in the winter break. |
| D．The topics of this magazine focus on geography and interviews. |
The passage is written to .
| A．share adventures and discoveries |
| B．give advice on taking photos |
| C．attract readers to buy the magazine |
| D．introduce the content of the magazine |
Owning a smartphone may not be as smart as you think. It may let you surf the Internet, listen to music and snap photos wherever you are…but it also turns you into a workaholic, it seems.
A study suggests that, by giving you access to emails at all times, the all-singing, all-dancing mobilephone adds as much as two hours to your working day. Researchers found that Britons work an additional 460 hours a year on average as they are able to respond to emails on their mobiles.
The study by technology retailer Pixmania reveals the average UK working day is between 9 and 10 hours, but a further two hours is spent responding to or sending work emails, or making work calls. More than 90 percent of office workers have email-enabled phones, with a third accessing them more than 20 times a day. Almost one in ten admits spending up to three hours outside their normal working day checking work emails. Some workers confess they are on call almost 24 hours a day, with nine out of ten saying they make work emails and calls outside their normal working hours. The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 7 am, with more than a third checking their first emails in this period, and a quarter checking them between 11 pm and midnight.
Ghadi Hobeika, marketing director of Pixmania, said, “The ability to access literally millions of apps, keep in contact via social networks and take photos and video as well as text and call has made smartphones invaluable for many people. However, there are drawbacks. Many companies expect their employees to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and smartphones mean that people literally cannot get away from work. The more constantly in contact we become , the more is expected of us in a work capacity(容量).” What can we conclude from the text?
| A．All that glitters is not gold |
| B．It never rains but pours |
| C．Every coins has two sides |
| D．It’s no good crying over spilt milk |
The underlined word “accessing” in the third paragraph can be replaced by “________”.
A calling B. reaching
C. getting D. using Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．The average UK working time is between nine and twelve hours |
| B．Nine- tenths spent over three hours checking work emails |
| C．One-fourth check their first mail between 11 pm and midnight. |
| D．The average time for first checking emails is between 6 am and 8 am. |
What’s the main idea of the text?
| A．workaholics like smartphones. |
| B．Smartphones bring about extra work. |
| C．smartphones make our life easier. |
| D．Employers don’t like smartphones. |
If you were walking around a supermarket and saw a woman with a shaved head, a ring through her nose, a tattoo（纹身）design on her arm and she has a small child in her shopping trolley, what would your opinion be? Do you think this kind of body decoration is attractive or ugly? Different people have different ideas. The following are some examples of body decoration from around the world.
In many parts of Africa, it is thought that an attractive girl should have really shinny skin.
On Bali, a little island in Indonesia, they believe that a beautiful woman or handsome man must have perfectly straight, flat teeth. The Balinese believe that teeth with pointed edges make you look like an ugly wild animal. So when a girl or boy becomes a teenager, he or she is taken to a special person in their village who will file off teeth points to make them smooth and flat. There is no anesthetic（麻药）and this tooth filing is really painful. It is a kind of test. If you can stand it without screaming or crying too much, then you are thought ready to become an adult.
In Myanmar, there is a small group of people who are called the “Papaung”. They believe that a woman can only be really beautiful if she has a long neck. I mean a VERY long neck. Now you might think that you are either born with a long or short neck and that there’s nothing whatever you can do about it. But you would be wrong! At around the age of 5, a Papaung girl has heavy metal rings fitted around her neck, tightly between the chin and shoulders. Each year more rings are added and very, very slowly their weight pushes the shoulders down, in this way making the neck look longer. A Papaung woman will wear her neck rings all her life, never once taking them off.
So now I’m sure you will all agree that different people have different ideas about what is beautiful. What is mainly talked about in paragraph one?
| A．Women’s design. | B．Beautiful body decoration. |
| C．Body decoration. | D．Attractive decoration. |
What does the underlined word “trolley” mean?
| A．schoolbag | B．luggage |
| C．basket | D．shopping cart |
On Bali, it is believed that _________.
| A．a person with straight, flat teeth looks ugly |
| B．a person with sharp teeth looks ugly |
| C．a teenager’s teeth points must be filed off with anesthetic |
| D．no one will scream or cry when having his teeth points filed off |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Many people think that a woman with a ring through nose is neither attractive nor ugly. |
| B．Most African people think that a girl with shinny skin is beautiful. |
| C．It is thought that a beautiful woman should have straight, flat teeth on Bali. |
| D．Some people think it beautiful that a woman has a long neck in Myanmar. |
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