Some people make art with paint, and others use pencil or clay. But Italian artist Maurizio Savini prefers to use bright pink gum—after it has been chewed.
Savini makes huge sculptures of bears and even people out of used chewing gum. Each sculpture requires thousands of pieces of gum.
“I like to use chewing gum because it seemed to me a material that can be used in many ways compared with those used by the conventional arts such as painting,” Savini says.
How does he do it? The process is a lot like working with clay. “I work the chewing gum when it is warm and shape it with a knife,” says Savini. Then, he puts a chemical onto each gum sculpture to make the gum stay in place.
Savini’s sticky art has been shown in cities like London, Paris, and Rome, where he lives today.
Savini isn’t the only artist to work with gum. His pink sculptures have inspired artists all over the world to get creative with the sticky matter.
London artist Ben Wilson paints small paintings onto flat pieces of chewed gum he finds stuck to streets and sidewalks. In Canada, Jason Kronenwald uses different colored gum to make portraits of famous people.
Kronenwald seldom chews gum himself. Instead, his friends help chew gum for him while he’s working. “At times it can make me disgusted, but I just pay attention to the colors I need and get the sculpture going,” he says.
In America, Jamie Marraccini’s art depends on color, so he tests different kinds of gum before using them. To find out what color the chewed gum will become once hardened, he lets it age for up to six months.
“I’ve created 30 works totaling more than 35,000 pieces of gum,” says Marraccini. That’s a lot of gum!
So think twice the next time you throw away a wad of gum. Maybe what seems like trash could actually be the beginning of a great piece of art.The underlined word “disgusted” in the eighth paragraph probably means ________.
| A．excited | B．feel tired and sick |
| C．unhappy | D．energetic |
Marraccini stores the gum for six months in order to ______.
| A．judge how hard it will be |
| B．know whether it is still sweet |
| C．examine what chemicals it contains |
| D．see what color it will become |
The best title for the passage is ________.
| A．Sticky sculptures | B．Creative artists |
| C．A new form of art | D．Chewing gum |
Savini’s works of art can be seen in all the cities EXCEPT _______.
| A．London | B．Rome | C．New York | D．Paris |
Ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day?A group of time-challenged Canadian women are wishing for a 25-hour clock．
Jessie Behan，president of the 25th Hour Coalition(联盟)which is a group of Canadian women who have changed to a longer day，said the struggle for women to maintain work-1ife balance motivated her to research the body’s natural clock．“Many of my girlfriends are having kids，getting married，and I see the sufferings of dealing all that when you’re a working woman，”she said．“Women like myself are sick of living their lives by a 24-hour clock．”
A 2007 study by Charles Czeisler found a switch to longer days could be beneficial，especially for frequent travelers，shift workers，astronauts and those who experience trouble sleeping or waking．
In a similar study，Czeisler showed the body’s natural clock averages 24 hours and 11 minutes in both young and older people．The current 360-degree clock has 720 minutes，giving each minute 0．5 degree．With the new 25-hour day，30 minutes is added to each 12-hour period making each minute 0.48 degree．
While still a relatively small movement—the 25th Hour Coalition has 160 Facebook members，Behan is hoping for large changes．“The goal is to get as many women on board；there’s no harm in just trying it out and seeing．If it gets big，maybe the government will decide to standardize it．”
A recent online survey by Reader's Digest，which included 150 people in each of the 13 countries，suggests it's not just Canadians looking for longer days．Readers were asked“what would you do with an extra hour”if given a choice between sleep，work，exercise and family time．In Spain，half of respondents(被访者)said they’d like an extra hour in the day to devote to family time．The same was found for respondents in Brazil，the US and Britain，who chose family time over sleep，which came in at a close second．Only in India did work top the list with 50 percent of respondents claiming they could use an extra hour at the office．Some Canadian working women are campaigning for the 25-hour day in order to_______．
| A．have more chances at work |
| B．keep a balance between life and work |
| C．experience something new |
| D．have a better sleep |
Jessie Behan want more women to join the 25 th Hour Coalition because she________．
| A．intends to make more Facebook friends |
| B．hopes to get benefits from more people |
| C．considers it is harmless to form such an organization |
| D．thinks it can help those women to realize their dreams |
What is implied in the last paragraph?
| A．Respondents from most nations want more family time． |
| B．Respondents from developed countries experience more stress． |
| C．Most Canadian respondents claim that they need more family time． |
| D．Indians are the most hardworking of the 13 nations． |
Economists have studied how markets work for a long time．Generally，they work well．But markets do not always perform as expected．Jean Tirole of France won the Nobel Prize in Economics for studying why markets are imperfect，or inefficient，and what governments can do to regulate them．
The Nobel prize committee announced the $1．1 million prize in Stockholm to Jean Tirole．It called Mr.Tirole“one of the most influential economists of our time”．The organization said he had done important research in a number of areas．But it said，“most of all he has clarified how to understand and regulate industries with only a few powerful firms．”
Mr．Tiro1e works at the Toulouse School of Economics in Toulouse，France．He is 61 years old．For about 30 years，Mr．Tirole has researched periods when markets failed，that is，when they did not provide good results in price and competition．He looked at how a small number of large companies，or even a single company，can strongly influence industries. Banking and telecommunications were among the industries he studied．
The Nobel committee said that unregulated markets often produce socially undesirable results. They can result in higher prices or companies that use their market position to block others· The committee said it chose Mr．Timle because he thought about how best to regulate markets．For example，Tore Ellingsen，Chairman of the committee that awards the economics prize，says Mr·Tirole showed the need to develop better rules for the banking industry．This became urgent after the world financial crisis of 2008—2009．
The economics Drize is called the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alflred Nobel．Alfred Nobel did not establish the prize．It was first presented in 1969．The passage tells us that Jean Tirole______________.
| A．has studied the economics in Sweden |
| B．is the first to win the Nobel Prize in Economics |
| C．is highly praised by Chairman of the committee |
| D．has made regulations for large companies |
We can learn from the passage that___________________.
| A．Jean Tirole's research made the markets imperfect or inefficient |
| B．banking and telecommunications are strongly influential industries |
| C．the world financial crisis of 2008—2009 regulated the markets |
| D．Alfred Nobel was unwilling to establish economics prize |
The underlined word“undesirable”in Paragraph 4 can best be，replaced by_________.
| A．harmful | B．unbelievable |
| C．beneficial | D．convincing |
What is the article mainly about?
| A．The 1ife of Jean Tirole． |
| B．The research of Jean Tirole． |
| C．The history of Nobel Prize in Economics． |
| D．Jean Tirole Wins Nobel Economics Prize． |
Even the hardest days contain lessons that will help you be a better person．Feeling down?Consider these things to remember when you’re having a bad day．
No one promised life would be perfect．If you look for perfection，you’11 never be content．Don’t condition your happiness on meeting every expectation you set for yourself．It is good to be ambitious，but you’11 never be perfect．If you expect otherwise，your life will be filled with disappointments．
Success doesn’t happen overnight．Trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit．Don’t kid yourself into thinking success will come quickly．It isn’t easy to be patient，but anything worth doing requires time．If you get frustrated，remind yourself why your goal is important．
There is a lesson in every struggle．And once the storm is over，you won’t remember how you made it through or how you managed to survive．But one thing is certain．When you come out of the storm，you won’t be the same person who walked in．That’s what this storm’s all about．Don’t complain about how terrible your life is．If you search for the lesson in your present struggle，you’11 be able to make positive changes that would prevent similar situations in the future．
Without hard times，you wouldn’t appreciate the good ones．Strength does not come from winning．Your struggles develop your strengths．When you go through hardships and decide not to give in，that is strength．It is hard to find much to smile about when you fail，but how else would you improve yourself?If you look at failure as a part of your evolutionary process，you’11 stay positive and pursue your goals for as long as it takes．Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
| A．Every person has to go through hard times |
| B．We can learn a lot from our struggles |
| C．We should accept the fact that life is not perfect |
| D．Things to remember when you are having a bad day |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．Success will come quickly． |
| B．Hard work leads to success． |
| C．Success calls for patience． |
| D．Confidence is the first step to success. |
We can learn from Paragraph 4 that____________．
| A．1essons from struggles make us stronger |
| B．all things are difficult before they are easy |
| C．we should forget how we managed to survive |
| D．similar situations in the future will never appear |
What can we infer from Paragraph 5?
| A．Hard times make us lose heart and be short of courage. |
| B．Perseverance in time of hardships develops our strengths． |
| C．Smiles when you fail will not help to improve yourself． |
| D．We should try to avoid failures in the evolutionary process. |
Using a computer or smartphone at night can cause us to pile on the pounds，new research has revealed．
The study found a link between blue light exposure(blue light is produced by smartphones and computers)and increased hunger．It found that exposure to blue light increases hunger levels for several houus and even increases hunger levels after eating a meal．Blue light exposure has also already been shown to cause decreased sleepiness in the evening，increasing the risk of sleeplessness．
The leading researcher，Ivy Cheung，from Northwestern University in Chicago，said，“A single three-hour exposure to blue-enriched light in the evening greatly affected hunger and metabolism(新陈代谢)．These results are important because they suggest that controlling environmental light exposure for humans may represent a novel approach of influencing food intake patterns and metabolism．”
The study group consisted of 10 healthy adults with regular sleep and eating schedules. They completed a four-day trial under dim(昏暗的)light conditions，which involved exposure to less than 20 lux(勒克斯，照明单位)during 16 hours awake and less than 3 lux during eight hours of sleep．On the third day they were exposed to three hours of 260 lux，blue-enriched light starting10.5 hours after waking up, and the effects were compared with dim light exposure.
Ivy Cheung said more research is needed to determine the functions involved in the relationship between light exposure，hunger and metabolism．What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
| A．How blue light exposure affects hunger． |
| B．Why blue light exposure influences sleepiness． |
| C．What is the link between blue light exposure，hunger and sleepiness． |
| D．Who has found the effects of blue light exposure on hunger and sleepiness． |
The underlined word“novel”in the third paragraph probably means“___________”.
| A．unusual | B．unforgettable |
| C．temporary | D．controversial |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Blue light exposure can make us lose weight at night． |
| B．Blue light exposure has no effect on sleeplessness． |
| C．The researchers drew their conclusion by comparison． |
| D．Ivy Cheung has found the relationship between light exposure and hunger． |
Where would you be most likely to find the passage?
| A．On a notice board． | B．In a health magazine． |
| C．On a business website． | D．In a college newspaper． |
The search for beauty spans centuries and continents. Paintings of Egyptians dating back over 4,000 years show both men and women painting their nails and wearing makeup. In 18th-century France, wealthy noblemen wore large wigs (假发）of long, white hair to make themselves attractive. Today, people continue to devote a lot of time and money to their appearance.
There is at least one good reason for the desire to be attractive：beauty is power. Studies suggest that good-looking people make more money, get called on more often in class, and are regarded as friendlier.
But what exactly is beauty? It's difficult to describe it clearly, and yet we know it when we see it. And our awareness of it may start at a very early age. In one set of studies, six-month-old babies were shown a series of photographs. The faces on the pictures had been rated for attractiveness by a group of college students. In the studies, the babies spent more time looking at the attractive faces than the unattractive ones.
The idea that even babies can judge appearance makes perfect sense to many researchers. In studies by psychologists, men consistently showed a preference for women with larger eyes, fuller lips, and a smaller nose and chin while women prefer men with large shoulders and a narrow waist. According to scientists, the mind unconsciously tells men and women that these traits —the full lips, clear skin , strong shoulders —equal health and genetic well-being.
Not everyone thinks the same way, however. “Our hardwiredness can be changed by all sorts of expectations —mostly cultural,” says C. Loring Brace, an anthropologist at the University of Michigan. What is considered attractive in one culture might not be in another. Look at most Western fashion magazines: the women on the pages are thin, but is this "perfect" body type for women worldwide? Scientists' answer is no; what is considered beautiful is subjective and varies around the world. They found native peoples in southeast Peru preferred shapes regarded overweight in Western cultures.
For better or worse, beauty plays a role in our lives. But it is extremely difficult to describe exactly what makes one person attractive to another. Although there do seem to be certain physical traits considered universally appealing, it is also true that beauty does not always keep to a single, uniform standard. Beauty really is, as the saying goes, in the eye of the beholder.People's ideas about beauty __________.
| A．have existed since ancient times |
| B．can be easily described |
| C．have little influence on a person's success |
| D．are based upon strict criteria |
In Paragraph 3, the babies in the study __________.
| A．were rated for their appearance |
| B．were entered in a beauty contest |
| C．were shown photos of a group of college students |
| D．were able to tell attractive faces from unattractive ones |
The underlined word “traits” in Paragraph 4 probably means __________.
| A．qualities | B．measurements |
| C．judgments | D．standards |
We can learn from the passage that __________.
| A．the ideas of beauty vary as people grow up |
| B．the search for beauty is rooted in lack of confidence |
| C．the standards for beauty are based on scientific researches |
| D．the understanding of beauty depends on cultural backgrounds |
What can probably be the best title for this passage?
| A．The History of Beauty |
| B．The Standards for Beauty |
| C．The Mystery of Beauty |
| D．The Attitudes toward Beauty |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号