2008 is now finally in the past as millions of Chinese people around the world welcomed the Chinese New year on Monday 26 January.

As we waved goodbye to the Year of the Rat, the Year of the Ox was greeted in traditional style with firecrackers, parties and feasts.

As the Chinese word for Ox is pronounced 'Niu' which sounds similar to 'new' in English, but has the meaning of being 'bullish', that is, optimistic; this pun（雙關(guān)語(yǔ)） is interpreted as a luck start to the year.

According to Chinese astrology（占星學(xué)）, people born in the Year of the Ox are patient, hardworking and can inspire confidence in others. However, they can be fierce and remarkably stubborn at times.

Traditionally in London, the Chinese New Year celebration is held on the first Sunday after New Year's Day. This year, the mayor of London has promised spectators a rich mixture of live performances, a colourful parade and culinary delights（烹飪佳肴） at the famous landmark Trafalgar Square.

Further up in Derry, in Northern Ireland, the celebration arrived early. Locals were treated to calligraphy demonstrations（書法表演）, authentic（地道的）Chinese tea tasting and a Chinese banquet. The mayor of Derry, Gerard Diver, thought the events were extremely important, not just for the Chinese community, but to everyone in Derry.

“We live on an island, and I sometimes think that we're perhaps not as exposed to different cultures or to different ways of doing things as we should be. This is a valuable opportunity to gain an insight into Chinese culture and traditions, and it's also an important sign of progress,” said Mr. Diver.

The global financial crisis has, however, affected celebrations elsewhere in the country. Coventry Community Chinese Association was forced to cancel its plans for the New Year due to lack of funding. Similarly in the south west part of the country, decisions were made to scale down（縮減） the celebration after a number of sponsors（贊助商） were forced to cut back on financial support.

Despite the setbacks, people are determined to welcome the Niu Year in style and hope the Year of the Ox will bring prosperity through fortitude（毅力） and hard work.

1．Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?

      A．A Chinese Banquet                               B．Financial Crisis

       C．Happy Niu Year                                   D．New Year Celebration

2．From the passage we can infer         .

       A．the Chinese culture has a strong influence on the British

       B．the Chinese culture affects the global financial crisis

       C．most British people are not interested in Chinese culture

       D．the British culture doesn’t agree with the Chinese culture

3．Why did the Mayor of Derry think the events were extremely important?

       A．Because people can taste Chinese tea.

       B．Because people can take part in a Chinese banquet.

       C．Because people can know something of Chinese culture and traditions.

       D．Because the global financial crisis was coming.

4．According to the passage, people born in the year of the OX are usually          .

      A．patient, hardworking and friendly

       B．patient, hard working but stubborn

       C．patient, hardworking and inspiring

       D．patient, hardworking and colorful

5．What happened to some of the celebrations due to the global financial crisis?

       A．The celebrations were greatly affected.

       B．Some people had to cancel their plans of celebrations.

       C．Decisions were made to scale down the celebrations.

       D．All of the above.

練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

Maggiano is an award-winning teacher in the Social Studies Department at West Springfield High School in Virginia. He has taught in public and private schools for 25 years .In a piece on his blog called “The Classroom Post,” he calls for more males to enter the profession(職業(yè)).

Men Teach, a non-profit organization that encourages men to enter teaching, reports that in 2008, 18.8% of all elementary and middle school teachers were men. At the high school level during the same year, men comprised（構(gòu)成） 44% of the work force.

Why are there so few men in teaching? Men Teach says low pay and lack of prestige（聲望）, as well as a perception in our culture that teaching is for women. As a result, there is no organized effort across the country to attract men into the teaching profession.

A study in 2008 by the National Education Association showed that the number of male teachers hit a record 40-year low. Males comprised 24.5 percent of public schoolteachers. States with high percentages: Kansas (33.6 percent), Oregon (31.6 percent), Alaska (30.9 percent) and Indiana (30.5percent).States with the lowest percentage : Arkansas (16.2 percent), Virginia (17.4 percent), Mississippi (17.5 percent), Louisiana (18 percent), South Carolina (18.5 percent) and Georgia (19.7 percent).

     There is no definitive(確定) research that male students--or female students, for that matter-- learn better from a particular sex.

But as Maggiano put it, “Kids today, both boys and girls, must have the same opportunity to learn from outstanding, devoted men that I did. However, I have heard little discussion about this problem coming from our national leaders.

What worries Maggiano is that_______.         

A. nobody will take his place when he retires

B. male teachers are not so excellent

C. men are not interested in teaching

D. there is not enough teachers in the schools

According to the text , we can infer that______.      

A. the number of male teachers hit a record 40-year low in 2008

B. it is not sure students will learn better from male teachers

C. male teachers get a higher pay

D. organized efforts have been made to call on men into the teaching profession

In which state are male teachers most badly needed?

A. Alaska   B. Virginia    C. Georgia   D. Arkansas

What does the last paragraph suggest?

A. The government doesn’t pay much attention to the shortage.

of male teachers in the school.

B. Students find it easy to learn from male teachers.

C. I’m glad to hear the discussion about the shortage of male teachers in the school.

D. The shortage of male teachers in the school has no effect on students.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2010-2011學(xué)年山東省德州一中高一下學(xué)期模塊檢測(cè)英語(yǔ)卷 題型：閱讀理解

London Summer School in Classics
Dates
The London Summer School in Classics 2008 will be held at King’s College London. It will run from 8th July until 17th July. Applications close on 2nd June, 2008.
For an application form, please download either the 2-page PDF or the word format document from the foot of the page.
If you have any problems downloading the application form or any questions, please contact: London Summer School in Classics, King’s College London.
Tel: 020 7848 2299
Fax: 020 7848 2545
Organization
The school is organized by the colleges of the University of London. The summer school offers eight days of intensive teaching in Greek and Latin. There are four language classes each day as well as lectures and a debate, between 10:30 am and 4:30 pm. The course is not residential (提供住宿的), and there is no teaching during the weekend of 12th to 13th July.
The fee is £85.00. Travel grants (旅行補(bǔ)助金) are available as a contribution to your travel costs, but may not cover all your expenses. The travel grants are arranged during the summer school.
Teaching is generally in groups of 12-15 people and it, as far as possible, comprises (包含) of students of roughly the same level of experience. The style of teaching is friendly, but demanding: a lot of work is expected from students during the school, but they usually find the whole experience both stimulating and valuable. Some classes concentrate chiefly on reading, while others offer a mixture of grammar and translation practice. Our tutors include some of the most experienced and talented teachers of Classics in the London area and beyond.
The Summer School in Classics caters for a wide range of interests and for both school & university students as well as those who wish to learn Greek or Latin, or to revive their knowledge of the languages. Our principal concern is to provide a thorough program of language learning in a lively university environment.
【小題1】 To join in the school, you have to apply before ________.

A．8th July, 2008B．2nd June, 2008 C．17th July, 2008D．13th July, 2008
【小題2】 As a student of the school, you are probably asked to _______.
A．do a lot of reading in Greek and Latin
B．learn the grammar of Greek and Latin only
C．do some translation work only
D．speak Greek and Latin with experienced teachers
【小題3】What is the London Summer School in Classics most concerned about?
A．Providing a stimulating experience for students.
B．Promoting students to develop a wide range of interests.
C．Teaching students languages in a lively environment.
D．Improving students’ level of debating in the argument.
【小題4】 Which is one of the teaching ways of the school?
A．Student groups consist of the same level students strictly.
B．Students needn’t do any work in the class.
C．Students learn Greek and Latin by listening to teachers all day.
D．Students are generally divided into groups of 12-15.
【小題5】Which of the following can we know from the passage?
A．The fee is £85, including the travel costs.
B．Students needn’t go to class on 12th and 13th July.
C．People should fill in two application forms.
D．People can contact the school by phone or email.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2014屆福建廈門大學(xué)附屬科技中學(xué)高二下學(xué)期期中考試英語(yǔ)卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

A new United Nations report shows that fish farming may soon be the world’s most important provider of fish. The Food and Agriculture Organization says fish farming is growing at a rate of 6.6 percent a year.

Fish farming now produces forty-six percent of the world’s supply of fish. That represents a forty-three percent increase from 2006. The report also said fish farming earned more money in 2008 than traditional fisheries.

In fish farming, fish are raised in tanks or small bodies of water called ponds. They are also raised in cages or nets in oceans, lakes and rivers. The report says increased fish farming has helped people around the world eat record amounts of fish. The FAO says each person ate an average of almost seventeen kilograms of fish last year.

However, the FAO says the current yearly wild-fish harvest of ninety million tons shows no improvement. Decreasing numbers of fish and stronger catch limits have reduced the possibilities for catching wild fish. The FAO report says about thirty-two percent of world supplies are overfished. It says these supplies of fish need to be rebuilt at once.

Some scientists have criticized fish farming. They say the nets and cages permit fish diseases and pests to spread. Some fish farming critics doubt whether fish farming can keep growing at the current rate. But Wally Stevens of the trade group Global Aquaculture Alliance says the industry must continue developing to feed growing populations. Mr. Stevens says a one hundred percent increase in fish farming over ten years is necessary to keep providing for people at the current level. He notes that fish farming creates jobs and wealth, especially for people in coastal areas of China.

1.We learn that since the year 2006, fish farming has been ______.

A．earning more money than traditional fisheries

B．developing rapidly around the world

C．growing at a rate of 6.6 percent each day

D．producing 46% of the world’s supply of fish

2.According to Paragraph 3, thanks to fish farming, people around the world are able to ______.

A．buy more kinds of fishes                  B．eat more fish than before

C．eat much healthier fish                   D．eat much bigger fish

3.What is implied in Paragraph 4?

A．it is harder to catch wild fish than before.

B．It costs too much to rebuild supplies of fish.

C．There is no future for the market of wild fish.

D．Catching wild fish no longer brings benefits.

4.What does Wally Stevens think of fish farming?

A．It doesn’t have disadvantages at all.

B．It cannot keep growing at the current rate.

C．It is not a good way of raising fish.

D．It must develop fast to supply a growing population.

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：湖南省株洲市2010屆高三考前模擬考試英語(yǔ)試題 題型：閱讀理解

 

Poverty is not first thing that comes to mind when you think of Japan. After all, there are no children begging on the streets in major cities here. You do not often see Japanese citizens publicly letting out their complaints over the country’s economic decline. But senior government researcher Aya Abe says Japan has the fourth highest rate of child poverty among developed countries.

She says she sees that poverty in schools where students admit to only bathing once a week. Some cannot afford to buy pencils for class.

“They may not be on the streets begging or they may not be turning into criminals, but it’s there. It’s just that we have to open our eyes and see,” Abe said.

Abe owes the increase in child poverty to the country’s changing demographics(人口統(tǒng)計(jì)), struggling economy and high social security premiums(保險(xiǎn)費(fèi)). She says fewer people live in three-generation households, where the parents and grandparents work. The number of single mothers has increased. The salary for young fathers has declined with the economic downturn. Social security premiums have increased in the last 20 years, putting families on the edge of poverty.

Abe says studies conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD ) point to rising poverty in Japan before the global economic crises in 2008. But the Japanese government and the public refused to acknowledge it until then partly because of the shame associated with poverty.

“It was very unpopular for Japanese media to say anything about Japanese poverty,” said Abe. “Even though OECD Japan announced it in Japanese, Japanese media didn’t make it into the articles.”

Abe says new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has taken one important step to help alleviate (緩解) the problem. Next year, his Democratic Party of Japan plans to double monthly child care allowances given to families.

But Abe wants the government to expand its financial help even more. She wants it to simplify the process to apply for public assistance and provide educational grants for students struggling to pay for tuition at high schools and colleges. The country now only offers loans.

Abe also says the government must act quickly because she says the problem will only get worse in the next few years.

1. The passage is intended to _________.

   A. report the result of the studies conducted by OECD

   B. tell us about the increase in Japanese child poverty

   C. prove that Japan is no longer a developed country

   D. introduce Aya Abe, a senior government researcher

2. It seems to be hard to associate Japan with poverty because _______.

   A. no children are seen begging in the streets of main cities in Japan

   B. its citizens never complain about the country’s economic decline

   C. it is one of the few wealthiest countries in the world

   D. its government and public refused to acknowledge it

3. According to Abe, several things contribute to the rising child poverty except________.

   A. high social security premiums            

B. the increase of the number of single mothers

   C. the decrease of the salary for young fathers  

D. the expansion of three-generation households

4. Why was it unpopular for Japanese media to say anything about Japanese poverty?

A. The Japanese public didn’t think it true.           

B. It was forbidden by the Japanese government.

C. The Japanese public regarded it shameful to be poor. 

D. OECD Japan had already announced it in Japanese.

5. Which of the following is NOT the author’s suggestion for alleviating this problem?

   A. Doubling monthly child care allowances given to families.

   B. Expanding government’s financial help even more.

   C. Providing educational grants for poor students.

   D. Simplifying the process to apply for public assistance.

 

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2011-2012學(xué)年廣東省高三上學(xué)期11月月考英語(yǔ)題（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

He has vowed that he will not stop building his business until it is worth £100 million. But hard-working Owens can stop for at least a moment's celebration after making his first £1 million at the age of 16. Owens, who has used a computer since the age of seven, began teaching himself basic web design at the age of ten when he was given his first Mac computer. He used his pocket money to fund his first business project, website Mac Box Bundle at just 14 which has made £700,000 since its establishment in 2008. Mac Box Bundle sells a combination of popular Mac applications which are worth up to $400 together for under just $100 and donates 10 percent of the money to charities.

He then established an advertising company Branchr a year later and worked on the business after school and at weekends. Branchr made a surprising £500,000 in its first year. Branchr works as a platform for website owners to sell advertising.

Owens, from Northampton, currently employs eight staff---all adults---around the UK and America as sales and technical assistants. The young man lives with his parents. His mother who is a company secretary said he was inspired to go into business after observing the huge success achieved by Apple's chief executive officers(首席執(zhí)行官) Steve Jobs.

Owens said, "I think everyone has business sense in them, and they just need to gain experience and be determined to make it. There is no magical formula(法則) for business, It takes hard work, determination and the drive to do something great. My aim is to become a leading name in the world of Internet and mobile advertising and push myself right to the top of the game.

The teenager insists his professional success has not affected his personal life, and says his interests include photography and playing the guitar. "My friends and I don't really talk about my success. To them I'm just a normal teenager and it doesn't change anything between us."

1. What can we know from Paragraph 1?

   A. Owens' company is worth £1 million now.

   B. Owens learned to use computers at the age of 10.

   C. Owens made £700,000 from Mac Box Bundle in 2008.

   D. Owens is successful and enthusiastic about public welfare.

2.From Paragraph 2 we know that Branchr _____________.

   A. takes up all Owens' spare time

   B. offers a platform for advertising business

   C. designs practical software for website owners

   D. takes up advertising business for Nac Box Bundle

3.Why did Owens come up with the idea of doing business?

   A. Because eight adults were ready to help.

   B. Because it was easy to establish web companies.

   C. Because his parents wanted him to have a try.

   D. Because he drew inspiration from Steve jobs.

4.Owens tends to think that ____________.

   A. every person has potential talent for business

   B. getting experienced in business needs determination

   C. it is hard work for people to decide to do something great.

   D. he is sure to play a leading part in the world of the Internet.

5.What do Ownes' friends think about him?

   A. He sets a good example.  B. He does quite well in music.

   C. He is a common school boy.  D. He puts friendship above anything else.

 

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案