Stilton Cheese Rolling
May Day is a traditional day for celebrations, but the 2,000 English villagers of Stilton must be the only people in the world who include cheese rolling in their annual plans. Teams of four, dressed in a variety of strange and funny clothes , roll a complete cheese along a 50-metre course. On the way, they must not kick or throw their cheese, or go into their competitors' lane. Competition is fierce and the chief prize is a complete Stilton cheese weighing about four kilos (disappointingly, but understandably the cheeses used in the race are wooden ones). All the competitors arc served with beer or port wine, the traditional accompaniment for Stilton cheese.
Fiery Foods Festival—The Hottest Festival on Earth
Every year more than 10,000 people head for the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico. They come from as far away as Australia, the Caribbean and China, but they all share a common addiction—food that is not just spicy ,but hot enough to make your mouth burn, your head spin and your eyes water. Their destination is the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival which is held over a period of three clays every March. You might like to try a chocolate-covered habanero pepper—officially the hottest pepper in the world—or any one of the thousands of products that are on show. But one thing's for sure—if you don't like the feeling of a burning tongue, this festival isn't for you!
La Tomatina—The World's Biggest Food Fight
On the last Wednesday of every August, the Spanish town of Bunol hosts Ea Tomatina—the world's largest food fight. A week-long celebration leads up to an exciting tomato battle as the highlight of the week's events. The early morning sees the arrival of large trucks with tomatoes—official fight-starters get things going by casting tomatoes at the crowd.
The battle lasts little more than half an hour, in which time around 50,000 kilograms of tomatoes have been thrown at anyone or anything that moves, runs, or fights back. Then everyone heads down to the river to make friends again—and for a much-needed wash!In the Stilton cheese rolling competition, competitors on each team must .
| A．wear various formal clothes |
| B．roll a wooden cheese in their own lane |
| C．kick or throw their cheese |
| D．use a real cheese weighing about four kilos |
Where is the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival held?
| A．In New Mexico. | B．In the Caribbean. |
| C．In Australia. | D．In China. |
The celebration of La Tomatina lasts .
| A．three days | B．seven days |
| C．less than three days | D．more than seven days |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The chief prize for the Stilton cheese rolling competition is beer or port wine. |
| B．More than 10,000 Chinese take pail in the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival. |
| C．Thousands of spicy foods are on show in the Fiery Food and BBQ Festival. |
| D．An exciting tomato battle takes place at the beginning of La Tomatina. |
Crosstalk(相声)，a traditional form of comic storytelling，is making a comeback in China’s tea houses and theaters．
Audiences can laugh the night away every Saturday at the Qianxiangyi Teahouse in Tianjin，entertained by the apprentices(学徒)of Hou Baolin，Ma Sanli or Yin Shoushan—all leading crosstalk artists of years past—for only 20 yuan($2．40)．
The success in Tianjin has also caused the rejuvenation(复活) of crosstalk in Beijing and other places．
Although the art form originated in Beijing in the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911)，Tianjin became a place where rising stars formed their styles and new pieces were tried out．The city was well—known nationwide for the quality of its crosstalk performances．
Known in Chinese as xiangsheng(1iterally，“face and voice”)，crosstalk was the predominant(支配的)form of comedy throughout most of the 20th century．In the old days in Tianjin and elsewhere，temple fairs and markets were the main places for crosstalkers to perform，although they occasionally also appeared in teahouses or theaters．
Crosstalk pieces draw on every aspect of Chinese culture，from history and folk tales to social issues of the time．Although there’re hundreds of traditional pieces，they’re constantly rewritten to suit the times and the audience, while new works are written as well．It’s one of the features that have made crosstalk a
public art form throughout its history．
“Crosstalk was in the doldrums(萎靡不振)with competition from other art forms，especially TV，”said Wang Xiaochun，headmaster of the Northern Storytelling Arts School of China(NSAS)．“But it has regained its status with crosstalk fans，especially young people，growing aware of its rare qualities．”
“More and more students are coming to NSAS to study crosstalk，including some girl students，”said Wang, “They’re sure that crosstalk will have a strong market.”Crosstalk means“__________ ”in Chinese．
| A．storytelling | B．face and voice | C．folk tale | D．dialogue |
According to the text, crosstalk is so popular throughout its history because____________．
| A．it is constantly changed and renewed | B．it is often performed at temple fairs |
| C．it is different from other arts | D．it is comic and humourous |
Crosstalk makes a comeback mainly because__________．
| A．it is a popular traditional art after all |
| B．the pieces contain some famous folk tales |
| C．the crosstalkers make it return to teahouses |
| D．the pieces are made to suit the times and the audience |
We can learn that the future of crosstalk first lies in ____________．
| A．setting up more storytelling art schools | B．beating TV and other arts |
| C．young people’s awareness of its value | D．a strong market |
Guitar Lessons for Guitar Players
Playing the same things over and over again when you pick up the guitar? Teaching yourself for years but you hit a wall? Don’t know what to do next? Whether you’re a total beginner, or an old guitar player, we’ll get you working on something you can benefit from. I’m a professional teacher, over 30 students at my studio in downtown Berkeley and several music schools in San Francisco, Alameda, and Mountain
View.
No matter what style you’re into, I guarantee there are songs by your favourite bands that you could learn.
Call at 510-333-9091 or e-mail at blueschool147@gmail.com
Dance Classes for Students 2.5 Through Adults
Motion Dance Center in Martinez is now accepting registration(注册 )for all dance classes. There are classes offered in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip-hop, Contemporary and Cheerleading. Classes run like the school year Sep. through June. Prices are very reasonable at only $45 a month. That’s for a one-hour class once a week for a month. This studio is known for their younger child program. We are always looking for talented instructors too. If you want more information call Deena at 925-229-5678.
Qi Gong with Angie
Qi Gong is the perfect activity for anyone at any age. It combines gentle movement and meditation( 冥想), breathing regulation and relaxation. The exercises are designed to reduce stress and anxiety and improve blood and energy circulation( 循环) throughout the body, therefore increasing immune (免疫的) function, improving energy levels and sleep.
Thousands of Qi Gong lovers around the world have experienced the extraordinary benefits of this gentle, ancient Chinese exercise form and are healthier and happier for it. Join us to experience the benefits for yourself!
WHEN: Tuesdays from noon----1pm
WHERE: Halanda Studio 1062 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose, CA 95125
COST: $12 per class drop – in ( 即到即学的) or $45 for a pre-paid set of 4 classes
CONTACT: Angie at angie@lokahiacupuncture.com, 408-887-6000The purpose of the first advertisement is to _______.
| A．build a bridge between guitar players |
| B．look for teachers for several music schools |
| C．attract guitar players to attend music classes |
| D．help guitar beginners to improve their techniques |
Who will probably contact 510-333-9091?
| A．A music lover | B．A Hip-Hop lover | C．A dance lover | D．A Qi Gong lover |
Sarah and Jessey decide to attend the dance classes for six months. They each will have to pay _________ .
| A．$135 | B．$270 | C．$540 | D．1,080 |
According to Angie, the Qi Gong exercise is _______.
| A．traditional, gentle but unpopular | B．ancient, positive but complex |
| C．simple, effective but a little violent | D．traditional, gentle and effective |
One day a mime(哑剧演员)is visiting the zoo and attempts to earn some money as a street performer. As soon as he starts to draw a crowd，a zookeeper drags him into his office．The zookeeper explains that the zoo's most popular attraction，a gorilla(大猩猩)，has died suddenly and the keeper fears that attendance（出席人数） at the zoo will fall off．He offers the mime a job to dress up as the gorilla. The mime accepts．
The next morning the mime puts on the gorilla suit and enters the cage before the crowd comes．He soon discovers he can sleep all he wants，play and make fun of people and he draws bigger crowds than he ever did as a mime—the job he likes but loses．
However, with days going by，he begins to notice that the people are paying more attention to the lion in the cage next to his．Not wanting to lose the attention of his audience, he climbs to the top of his cage，crawls across a partition(隔墙)，and dangles(悬挂)from the top to the lion’s cage. The lion gets angry at this. The scene is a fuel to the crowd．
At the end of the day he is given a raise for being such a good attraction—Well，this continues for some time．The crowds grow larger，and the mime’s pay keeps going up.
Then one day when he is dangling over the lion he slips and falls．The mime is terrified. He starts screaming， “Help me!”，but the lion is quick．The mime soon finds himself flat on his back looking up at the angry lion and the lion says, “Shut
up you fool! Do you want to get us both fired?”The mime accepts the zookeeper’s offer because______________·
| A．he has been out of work |
| B．he doesn’t like being a mime |
| C．he likes performing at the zoo |
| D．he is offered a higher pay there |
How does the mime find the job dressing up as the gorilla?
| A．Hard and tiring． | B．Dangerous. |
| C．Easy and funny． | D．Boring. |
The mime’s first contact with the lion is to_________·
| A．find pleasure for himself | B．get the lion’s attention |
| C．get his pay raised | D．win back his audience |
The underlined words “a fuel” in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by __________.
A. frightening B common C．exciting D. familiar
Jenny lived in a town．Her father，Mr．Young，had a shop there and sold clothes in it．The shopkeeper was born in a poor family and was in school no more than a year．He was always sorry for it though he had much money now．He hoped his daughter could become a scientist．But the girl didn’t 1ike anything else except singing．She often went to the concerts，bought a lot of records the famous pop stars made and insisted on listening to the music when she was free．Of course she wanted to be a pop star，too．Her parents wanted to prevent her，but she didn’t listen to
them and they had to agree to her choice．They engaged an old man who was good at music as a private teacher．
Five years passed．Mr．Young bought all kinds of musical instruments for Jenny and they visited some places where the famous singers were born．Of course he spent a lot of money on it．But he found the girl didn’t make any progress．At last the teacher didn’t think the girl could become a singer at all and had to tell Mr．Young about it．The man became angry and said，“Why didn’t you tell me about it earlier? My daughter learned nothing but I paid you month after month!”
“I think you should thank me for it，”said the teacher．“Another teacher, who teaches
badly，is paid more than I was．And I saved much money for you!”Mr. Young was in school for a short time because______ ．
| A．he was too poor to go on studying | B．he had to help his parents |
| C．he was weak in his lessons | D．he didn’t like studying at all |
Jenny spent much money buying records and went to the concerts in order to ______
| A．visit some places | B．know some pop stars |
| C．become a pop star | D．1earn singing |
Mr．Young became angry because______．
| A．he paid a lot of money to the teacher |
| B．his daughter decided to drop music |
| C．his daughter spent four years on music |
| D．the teacher taught his daughter nothing |
For years and years people have been saying that the railways are dead．“We can do without railways” people say，as if motorcars and planes made the railways unnecessary．We all keep hearing that trains are slow，that they lose money，that they’re dying．But this is far from the truth．In these days of expensive oil，the railways have become highly competitive with motorcars and planes．If you want to carry people or goods from place to place，they’re cheaper than planes．And they have much in common with planes．A plane goes in a strange line and so does a railway．What is more，it takes you from the heart of a city into the heart of another．It doesn’t 1eave you as a plane does，miles and miles from the city center．It doesn’t hold you up as a car does，in endless traffic jams．And a single train can carry goods which no plane or motorcar could ever do．Far from being dead，the railways are very much alive．Modern railway lines give you a smooth，untroubled journey．Where else can you eat well，sleep in comfort，feel safe and enjoy the scene while you are traveling at speed at the same time? And we are only at the beginning．For we have just entered the age of super-fast trains, traveling at 1 50 miles an hour and more．Soon we will be wondering why we spent so much on motorways we can't use because we have not enough money to buy the oil and planes we can't fly in for the same reason.Some people think the railways are dead for many reasons except that ______ ．
| A．planes and motorcars will take the place of trains | B．oil is expensive today |
| C．trains are slow | D．railways lose money |
The writer’s idea seems to be that ______ ．
| A．we can do without railways | B．trains have much in common with motorcars and planes |
| C．motorcars and planes are not as good as trains | D．trains are as good as motorcars and planes |
According to the writer，which of the following is NOT true?
| A．It is cheaper to travel by train than by plane． |
| B．The railway station is usually at the center of a city． |
| C．When you get off the plane you will find yourself right in the city center． |
| D．No motorcar or plane can carry as many goods as a train does． |
From the underlined sentence at the end of the passage，we can infer that ．
| A．1ess and less people will take planes and motorways in the future |
| B．the people have known that the train is better than planes and motorways |
| C．trains will be more popular in the future |
| D．nobody likes spending much money on motorways |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号