CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wa
题型：不详难度：来源：
CARDIFF, Wales Poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered in Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统) of storytelling.
“It might seem strange that people still want to listen in age of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again,” said David Ambrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节) in Wales.
“Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time,” he said early this month.
Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound. Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively.
Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence) storytelling in Wales.
“It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions. and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here.” Ambrose said.
小题1:Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling _______.| A．will be more popular than TV | | B．will be popular again | | C．started in Wales | | D．are in the hands of some old people |
小题2:From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn _______.| A．about their life as early as thousands of years ago | | B．why they tell the stories in a throat-singing way | | C．how cold it has been where the Inuit live | | D．how difficult it is to understand the Inuit |
小题3:According to the writer, which of the following is NOT true?| A．Storytelling once stopped in Wales. | | B．Storytelling has a long history in Wales. | | C．Storytelling is always well received in Wales. | | D．Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales. |
小题4:The underlined phrase in good hands means _______.| A．controlled by rich people | B．grasped by good storytellers | | C．taken good care of | D．protected by kind people |
|
答案
小题1:B
小题2:A
小题3:D
小题4:C |
解析
短文介绍了威尔斯故事节的有关情况。
小题1:推断题。根据 …but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again 可以推断这种讲故事的传统会再度受到欢迎。
小题2:细节题。根据 Some of the tales, like those the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old 可推知此题答案为 A。
小题3:细节题。文中说Ambrose started the festival in 1993，Ambrose1993年创办了这个节，但并不等于说讲故事的传统1993年才恢复的，这是两码事。故选D。
小题4:词义猜测题。从 as all the Welsh are storytellers 可以推断出 in good hands 是“照顾得好或举办得好”的意思，故选 C。 |
举一反三
There are several ways you can find out about the countries and places you wish to visit. You can talk to friends who have travelled to the places. Or you can go and see a colour film. Or you can read travel books.
It would seem that there are three kinds of travel books. The first are those that give a personal, subjective(主观的) account of travels which the author has actually made himself. if they are informative and have a good index(索引), then they can be useful to you when you are planning your travels. The second kind are those books whose purpose is to give a purely objective(客观的) description of things to be done and seen. If a well-read, cultured person has written such a book, then it is even more useful. It can be sorted as a selected guide book. The third kind are those books which are called “a guide” to some place or other. If they are good, they will, in addition to their factual information, give an analysis or an explanation. Like the first kind they can be inspiring and interesting. But their basic purpose is to help the reader who wishes to plan in the most practical way.
Whatever kind of travel book you choose you must make sure that it does not describe everything as “wonderful”, “excellent” or “magical”. You must also note its date of publication because travel is a very practical affair and many things change quickly in the twenty-first century. Finally, you should make sure that the contents are well presented and easy to find.
小题1:This passage is about _______.| A．how to travel | B．how to buy travel books | | C．how to read a travel book | D．travel books |
小题2:The following travel books may be of use when you plan your travels except _______.| A．the book written by some people who have had the same travel experience themselves | | B．the book which tells you what is worth doing and seeing based on the facts | | C．the book in which a lot of big adjectives are used to draw your attention | | D．the book which offers you a lot of useful information like a tour guide |
小题3: The date of the publication must be noticed because _______.| A．the world is changing and so are the places you are going to visit | | B．the price of the book is always changing | | C．the author of the book may be different | | D．the contents of the book are always the same |
|
Lucky is the man who has no “skeleton in his closet”. When a man has done something in his life that he is ashamed of, that he wants to hide, he is said to have a “skeleton in his closet”. Some people may have more than one skeleton.
As we have noted many times, it is hard to find out how these expressions begin. Sometimes, we get some hard facts. But more often we have to depend on guesswork. And that is true of this phrase, which came from England.
Before 1932, English law did not permit a doctor to cut open a dead human body for scientific examination, unless it was the corpse(尸体) of an executed(处决) criminal.
But when it became legal, more and more doctors demanded skeletons for a more scientific study of medicine. It was helping in the advance of modern medicine. The demand had become so strong that men began to rob tombs and sell skeletons to doctors at high prices.
We are told that a doctor would usually buy just one skeleton for scientific study. It became very important in his work. But he had to keep it hidden because most people objected to keeping such a thing. As a rule, the doctor would keep his skeleton in some dark corner where it could not be seen, or hide it in a closet.
After a time, people began to suspect(怀疑) every doctor of hiding a skeleton in the closet. From this suspicion, the phrase “a skeleton in the closet” took on a broader, more general meaning to describe anything that a man wanted to keep others from discovering. It could be proof of a criminal act, or something much less serious. Well, that is one theory.
One writer, however, believes that the phrase might have come from something that really happened. It is his guess that a hidden closet in some old English country home may have turned up a real skeleton, clear proof of some old family shame or crime. Well, one man’s guess is as good as another. But this sounds like a story by the great French novelist, Balzac.
Baizac tells us of a man who suspected his wife of having a lover. The husband comes home by surprise. But she hears him and quickly hides her lover in the closet of her bedroom. He enters her room and asks her if she is hiding her lover. He says he will not open the door to the closet if she promises him there is no one there; He will believe her. She answers firmly that she is not hiding anyone in the closet.
The husband then begins to build a solid brick wall against the closet. His wife watches, knowing that her lover will never come out alive. But she will not change her story and admit her guilt.
小题1:Which of the following situations is suitable for using the phrase “skeleton in the closet” ?| A．You have stolen something precious and don’t want it discovered. | | B．You are a doctor and have to keep a skeleton for research. | | C．If you have cut open a dead human body for scientific examination you should keep the skeleton secret. | | D．You have done a crime or done something foolish, but you want to keep other from discovering it. |
小题2:From the text we know that there are _______ theories about how the phrase “skeleton in the closet” came into being. | A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
小题3:In Chinese the world “skeleton” means _______. 小题4:Which of the following is right according to the text?| A．In the 20th century, doctors realized the importance of anatomy(解剖) in the development of medicine. | | B．The doctors of the ancient times liked to collect as many skeleton as possible. | | C．The thieves stole skeletons from tombs in order to help the doctors. | | D．It was legal that corpses of anybody were cut open for scientific examination in history. |
小题5:From the story Balzac told we know that the wife’s lover must have become _______. | A．a corpse | B．a phrase | C．a skeleton | D．a secret |
|
We often use the words “growth” and “development” as if they meant basically the same thing. But this may not always be the case. One can easily imagine instances in which a country has achieved higher levels of income (growth) with little or no benefit coming to most of its citizens (development).
In the past, most development policies were aimed at increasing the growth rate of income per capita (人均所得). Many are still based on the theory that benefit of economic growth will come to all members of society. If this theory is correct, growth should encourage development.
By the early 1970s, however, the relationship between growth and development was being questioned. A major study by the World Bank in 1974 concluded that it is now clear that more than decades of rapid growth in developing countries has been of little benefit to & third of their population.
The World Bank study showed that increase in GNP per capita did not promise important improvements in such development indicators as nutrition (营养), health, and education. Although GNP per capita did indeed rise, its benefit came down to only a small part of the population. This realization gives rise to a call for new development policies. These new policies favor agriculture over industry, call for national redistribution (资源分配) of income and wealth, and encourage programs to satisfy such basic needs as food and shelter.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the international macroeconomic crises (大规模的经济危机) of high oil prices, worldwide recession (衰退) and the third world debt, forced attention away from programs designed to get rid of poverty. however, the lesson remains: economic growth does not promise economic development. Efforts may be required to change growing output capacity (能力) into economic benefit that reach most of a nation’s people.
小题1:What do we learn from the first paragraph about the relationship between growth and development?| A．Growth and development refer to the same thing. | | B．Growth always brings about development. | | C．Development is not a necessary result of growth. | | D．Development is a reliable measure of growth. |
小题2:Before the 1970s, most development policies were based on theory that economic growth would benefit ________.| A．most people in society | B．some people in society | | C．few people in society | D．everyone in society |
小题3: according to the study by the World Bank in 1974, economic growth in some backward countries brought ________.
A. benefit to a third of their population
B. benefit to two thirds of their population
C little benefit to their people
D. no benefit at all to their people
小题4:If the passage continues, what would the author most likely discuss in the next paragraph?| A．How to turn growth into development. | | B．How to remove poverty from society. | | C．How to decrease the third world debt. | | D．How to cope with economic crises. |
|
It gives me great pleasure today to say a few words in praise of a man we will all miss very much. To be honest, I can’t imagine we will do without him when he’s gone. Bill Masters almost single-handed built up our sales force in the Houston area and developed the market position that we enjoy today. In only six years, he has brought the firm from a very low fifth position in the area sales to the point where we now outsell all but one of our competitors. Not only have we got 37 per cent of the market under Bill’s leadership; we are increasing our share with each passing month.
As you know, the company has moved Bill to northern California to work his sales magic in one of this company’s competitive areas. But we know that if anyone can do it, Bill Masters can, and I know you all join me in wishing him the best of luck in his new work.
小题1: The speech was made ________.| A．at a welcome meeting | B．after someone died | | C．when somebody was leaving | D．when they had a new manager |
小题2:How long did Masters work there?| A．37 years. | B．Less than 5 years. | | C．About six years. | D．Since he began to work. |
小题3: When Bill started to work in Houston area, he had to help him.| A．many people | B．nobody | C．about 37 people | D．very few people |
小题4: Bill increased the company’s sale________.| A．by 37 per cent every month | B．to the second largest in the area | | C．to be the fifth largest in the area | D．five times as much as before |
|
There are about fifteen hundred languages in the world.
But ___1___ a few of them are very ___2___. English is one of these. Many, many people use it, not only in England and the U. S. A, but in other parts of the world. About 200, 000, 000 speak it as their own language. It is difficult to say how many people are learning it as a ___3___ language. Many millions are ___4___ to do so.
Is it easy or difficult to learn English? Different people may have different ___5___. Have you ever ___6___ the ads of this kind in the newspapers or magazines?
“Learn English in six month, or your ___7___ back ...” “Easy and funny? Our records and tapes ___8___ you master your English in a month. ___9___ the first day your ___10___ will be excellent. Just send ...” Of course, it never ___11___ quite like this.
The only language that seems easy to learn is the mother tongue. We should ___12___ that we all learned our own language well when we were ___13___. If we could learn English in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. ___14___ what a small child does. He listens to what people say. He tries what he hears. When he is using the language, talking in it, and ___15___ in it all the time, just imagine how much ___16___ that gets!
So it is ___17___ to say that learning English is easy, because a good command of English ___18___ upon a lot of practice. And practice needs great effort and ___19___ much time. Good teachers, records, tapes, books, and dictionaries will ___20___. But they cannot do the student’s work for him.
1. A. not B. quite C. only D. very
2. A. difficult B. important C. necessary D. easy
3. A. native B. foreign C. useful D. mother
4. A. learning B. enjoying C. trying D. liking
5. A. questions B. problems C. ideas D. answers
6. A. found B. watched C. noticed D. known
7. A. knowledge B. time C. money D. English
8. A. make B. help C. let D. allow
9. A. From B. On C. Since D. After
10. A. spelling B. grammar C. English D. pronunciation
11. A. happened B. know C. seemed D. felt
12. A. know B. remember C. understand D. think
13. A. students B. children C. babies D. grown-ups
14. A. Imagine B. Mind C. Do D. Think of
15. A. using B. thinking C. trying D. practicing
16. A. time B. money C. language D. practice
17. A. hard B. easy C. funny D. silly
18. A. depends B. tries C. has D. takes
19. A. uses B. takes C. gets D. costs
20. A. do B. work C. help D. master |
最新试题
热门考点