【推荐2】Sea, Sun, Sand and South Africa: Readers’ Favorite Beaches

The Wild Coast five-day hike from Kei Mouth to Coffee Bay in South Africa is surely the best experience for beach lovers.

Robben Island beaches

On a visit to the prison museum here, be sure to leave time to explore the island’s beaches. Few visitors realize that the island’s shores are the natural habitat of sizable penguins: enjoy watching them with far fewer tourists here. Bird life is plentiful and includes oystercatchers, ibis, egrets and cormorants. Sharks and dolphins can often be spotted offshore too.

Sand, sea and sculpture, Durban

There’s more to Durban’s Golden Mile than sunbathing and surfing. Not only is there a gallery of sand sculptures(雕像) and drawings, but Lucas, one of the best local artists, offers lessons. His amazing rhino(犀牛) is the only permanent item in a frequently changing exhibition. Lucas charges a modest R50 (£3) for a fun and surprisingly physical hour of creativity. Or, you could ask him to create a personalized sculpture for a special occasion.

Paternoster, Western Cape

Paternoster is a small beach community about 150 km north of Cape Town. The town has a number of rentals(租赁), all the Cape Dutch architecture you could want for a weekend away and some great food. Long walks on the beach, eating and drinking and watching the fishing boats make for a peaceful break. And, unlike in Cape Town, you can dip your toes in the sea without your legs freezing solid.

1. What is the suggested way for travelers to make their trips from Kei Mouth to Coffee Bay?

A．By car.	B．By boat.
C．On foot.	D．By bicycle.

2. Which destination is the best choice for a beach lover who likes animals?

A．Paternoster.	B．Robben Island beaches.
C．Kei Mouth.	D．Durban.

3. What can be learned about Durban?

A．It has a museum for ice sculptures and drawings.

B．Visitors can have their special sand sculptures made.

C．Rhinos can always be found everywhere on the beach.

D．Art lessons are given by local artists for a little money.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To inform the government of environmental protection.

B．To attract businessmen to develop the beaches.

C．To share travel tips with beach lovers.

D．To introduce activities to art lovers.

【推荐1】The Metamorphosis (excerpt)

One morning, Gregor Samsa woke up from a bad dream and realized he was some kind of a terrible insect. He was a cockroach (蟋蟀), and he was as large as a man! Lying on his back, he could see his large brown belly and thin legs.     1    

He began to think about his job as a traveling salesman. He hated his job, but he had to do it to support his father, mother, and sister because his father no longer worked. He looked at the clock and realized he had overslept—it was 6:30! He was late. The next train left at 7:00. He would have to hurry to make it. A few minutes later his mother yelled to him: “It’s 6:45. You are late. Get up!”     2     “Yes, mother. I’m getting up now.” His sister now whispered through the door, “Gregor, are you all right? Do you need anything?”

Well, it was time to get up. Surely, as soon as he got out of bed, he would realize this had all been a bad dream. He tried to move his back part out first, but it moved so slowly, and it was so difficult. His thin little legs seemed useless, just moving and moving in the air, not helping him at all. Then he tried the front part.     3     He began rocking back and forth, stronger and stronger, and finally threw himself onto the floor, hitting his head as he fell.

All of a sudden, he heard a knock at the door. It was his manager, who had come to see why he was late. “Oh,” thought Gregor, “I hate my job.” Then the manager spoke. “Mr. Samsa, I must warn you that you could lose your job because of this. Lately, your work has not been very good, and now I find you in bed when you should be at work!” Gregor panicked and said, “No, no, I will come out immediately. I was sick, but now I feel much better.” The manager and Gregor’s family didn’t understand a single word he said, for his speech was now the hiss of an insect. As he talked, he managed to move himself to the chest of drawers, tried to stand up, then slipped and fell, holding tightly to a chair with his thin legs.     4    

A．Gregor awoke as it was getting dark.

B．He finally managed to open the door and lean against it.

C．This worked better, but he still couldn’t move enough to get out of bed.

D．Gregor tried to return to his bedroom, but couldn't fit through the doorway.

E．When he answered her, he was surprised to hear his voice; it sounded so high.

F．He tried to turn over onto his side, but every time he tried, he would roll onto his back again.

【推荐2】根据 Great Expectations，从每题所给的A、B、C和D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
1. Which of the following did Magwitch believe in?

A．Honesty is the most valuable quality.

B．Friendship is necessary in one’s life.

C．Money can make a gentleman.

D．Family are the most important.

2. Why did Pip feel embarrassed when Joe paid a visit to him in London?

A．Because Joe didn’t inform him of the visit in advance.

B．Because Pip looked down on Joe after he moved to London.

C．Because Joe’s clothes were shabby and he didn’t bring any gift.

D．Because Pip had planned to visit a friend and Joe’s visit ruined it.

3. Why did Estella warn Pip repeatedly that she had no heart?

A．Because Miss Havisham raised her in this way.

B．Because she loved Pip and was afraid of hurting him.

C．Because she was honest and didn’t want to lie to Pip.

D．Because she was hurt by someone and decided to revenge (复仇）.

4. Joe can be best described as      .

A．confident and kind

B．ambitious and kind

C．hardworking and warm-hearted

D．confident and hardworking301

5. Which can best describe the change of Pip in the whole story?

A．lazy一ambitious—- vain (爱虚荣的）一self-abased (自卑的）

B．vain一ambitious一 self- abased 一gentlemanly

C．self- abased一 ambitious一vain一gentlemanly

D．kind 一vain一self-abased一ambitious

【推荐3】Disease, poverty, hate, love－Charles Dickens’ stories opened his readers eyes to the most important themes of his age. Two hundred years on, his stories still speak volumes across the world, proving that Dickens’ legacy（遗产）was far greater than just “great-literature”.
February 7 marks the 200^th anniversary of the writer’s birthday. To mark this date, BBC writer Alex Hudson listed six things Dickens gave the modern world. Let’s take a look at two of them.
A White Christmas
Dickens is described as “the man who invented Christmas” － not the religious festival, but the cultural aspects that we associate with the festive season today.
In the early 19^th century, Christmas was barely worth mentioning, according to critic and writer Leigh Hunt. The committee which ran the Conservative Party even held ordinary business meetings on Christmas Day－unthinkable in the West nowadays, when everyone but the most necessary workers takes at least three days off.
Many people believe that Dickens’ popular descriptions of the festive period became a blueprint for generations to come. In his classic novel, A Christmas Carol, he not only put forward the idea of snow at Christmas, but also painted a picture of glowing warmth－“home enjoyments, affections and hopes”.
In his biography of Dickens, Peter Ackroyd wrote: “Dickens can be said to have almost single-handedly created the modern idea of Christmas.”
“Dickens” poverty(贫穷)
Dickens was one of the first to take an honest look at the underclass and the poor of Victorian London.He helped popularize the term “red tape” to describe situations where people in power use needless amounts of bureaucracy(官僚作风) in a way that particularly hurts the weaker and poorer members of society.
“Dickensian” has now become a powerful word for describing an unacceptable level of poverty. In 2009, when the president of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers in the UK wanted to talk about poverty in some areas of Britain, she did not use words like “terrible” or “horrific”, but rather described it as “life mirroring the times of Dickens”.
1. The article is mainly about____________

A．a brief introduction to Charles Dickens

B．Charles Dickens’ influence on the world

C．the characters in Charles Dickens’ stories

D．Charles Dickens’ achievements in literature

2. Why is Dickens called “the man who invented Christmas”?

A．Because he created both religious and culture festival.

B．Because all his novels have something to do with Christmas.

C．Because one of his novels helped to shape Christmas celebrations.

D．Because he was the first man to have proposed celebrating Christmas.

3. We can learn from the passage that______.

A．Dickensian is widely used to describe the Christmas

B．Charles Dickens’ novels reflect the true life at his age

C．Every person can take three days off for Christmas

D．The theme of Charles Dickens’ stories is about poverty