With so many investments required of us to succeed - time, resources, talents, responsibilities, even finances for our retirement - it’s easy to lose sight of the most difficult investment of all to commit to : ourselves.
Getting to the point where you’re ready to start upgrading to you 2.0 isn’t easy. But it doesn’t mean dropping the ball everywhere else. It’s not about omissions, but admissions. Come clean with yourself to kick-start your personal growth.
Unstuck starts with “u”
No one purposely chooses to stop learning and growing again, it just kind of happens in a lot of daily responsibilities and life. And if it were easy to just kick it into gear（ 档 位 ）again, you would have already done it. But the truth is inescapable. If you want to get off that place to higher ground, it’s up to you and only you. No one will just hand you a steady stream of opportunities for growth.
You’ve been working in your life, not on it
Activity is often confused with acceleration（忙碌）. I was guilty of this for years in working place - staying always busy but not admitting I was bored. I was lost in activity and not steeping back to take time to question what I wanted my life to be. Once I began working on my life - quitting corporate, becoming an entrepreneur, restructuring to my life - I started growing once again. And I’ve never been happier.
Things aren’t happening to you, they’re happening for you
A victim mentality（心态）is the enemy of personal growth. Lamenting over everything that has gone wrong in your life only wastes energy from working to make more things go right. If you want to kick-start growth, you must view setbacks as having a purpose, and then put them in their place. The past shouldn’t run or define you - only fuel you.
The perfect time to start doesn’t exist
I had so many things that had to be just right before I could make my long-planned leap from corporate. I’d tell myself, “I’d love to go for it right now, but practically speaking.” Well, guess what? Practicality is poison. It’s the convenient excuse stopping you from what you’re meant to become.
It’s time to unplug others’ opinions
Grow where you want to grow. Learn what you want to learn. Wherever you are on the scale of hat you want to learn next - be it beginner or near - expert own it, be proud of it. Pretenses are for pretenders. You’re just trying to become a better version of your genuine self.
1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?| A．If you want to succeed, you have to invest yourself first. |
| B．Upgrading yourself is hard, but you still need to continue. |
| C．Giving up upgrading yourself is just like dropping the ball. |
| D．It’s a kind of responsibility to go on learning though it’s hard. |
| A．to express sadness and feeling sorry about something |
| B．to repeat what happens to you in the past of your life |
| C．to show some regretful feeling or thought for our past |
| D．to recognize something that has gone wrong in the past |
| A．the busier you are, the happier and better you will be |
| B．what happened shouldn’t prevent you, but protect you |
| C．whoever you are, just grow where you want to grow |
| D．how well you grow is actually decided by yourself |
| A．3 | B．7 | C．5 | D．6 |
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【推荐1】At the start of every working week, millions of people around the world get ready for something they do endlessly, joylessly and badly: a meeting.
The root of the rotten meeting is simple, says Madeleine de Hauke, a meeting coach and teacher in an Antwerp Management School. “We spend our lives and huge sums of money in meetings, but there’s very little investment (投入) into helping people run them effectively.”
Madeleine is correct. Running a meeting well takes skill. People need to know ahead why they are meeting, what they are supposed to achieve, who really needs to be there and how they should contribute. That sounds obvious but it is not, as anyone who has been to a pointless meeting knows. Yet meeting leaders are expected to learn all this on the job. I cannot remember ever being taught how to organize a meeting, and I have rarely had a job requiring me to do it.
I also like Madeleine’s descriptions of what she calls the Meeting Monsters: people who destroy meetings with all sorts of annoying behaviors. There is the cruel off-topic speaker. The non-stop noise in the background. The confusing rambler (夸夸其谈者). The rude multi-tasker. The mute who says nothing but emails later to say what was decided will never work.
The trouble is, we are all meeting monsters sometimes, says Madeleine. A good meeting leader knows how to stop this behavior, or make sure it never starts by making it clear what will and won’t be allowed.
A bad meeting is like a virus. By failing to produce good decisions it often requires another meeting to be held, then another and another. Luckily there is no need for a vaccine, just a bit more care and preparation, and an understanding that there is no shame in being taught how to lead a meeting well.
1. How does the author introduce the topic?| A．By showing specific numbers. |
| B．By telling his own experience. |
| C．By mentioning an expert’s words. |
| D．By describing a common activity. |
| A．Boring meeting activities. | B．Untrained meeting leaders. |
| C．Incompetent meeting coaches. | D．Unreasonable meeting schedules. |
| A．Always raising questions. | B．Scaring meeting attenders. |
| C．Never stopping his chatter. | D．Refusing to finish his tasks. |
| A．It makes the attenders sick. |
| B．It results in more meetings. |
| C．It fails to produce decisions. |
| D．It requires care and preparation. |
| A．Kill the Meeting Monsters |
| B．Get Ready for Bad Meetings |
| C．Start the Week with A Meeting |
| D．Invest More for Meeting Attenders |
【推荐2】Job interviews are rarely fun, especially when you are young, about which I have deep feelings. I will never forget the opening question in my first interview for the Financial Times: “So, apart from the week before your interview, do you ever actually read the FT?”
Young jobseekers today face a different but no less difficult challenge. They find themselves smiling anxiously into their laptop cameras, answering questions as a timer ticks down with no human to interact with at all, which is equally boring.
Large employers are using these “asynchronous(异步的) video interviews”(AVIs) to narrow down job applicants to a smaller pool they can meet in person. Platforms such as HireVue and Modern Hire record applicants answering predetermined questions, usually with a time limit for each answer. In some cases, the recordings will be watched by the employer’s hiring managers. In others, the platform’s algorithms(算法) will assess the candidates based on what they said or even their facial expressions.
These interviews can be done cheaply and massively: one grocery chain in the US was gathering as many as 15,000 per day during the pandemic, according to HireVue. The platforms say the process is fairer than human recruiters(招聘人员), leading to better and more diverse candidates making the cut.
But employers need to pay more attention to how the process affects potential employees. Researchers at the University of Sussex Business School, in association with the Institute for Employment Studies, have warned that young jobseekers feel confused and exhausted by automated recruitment systems.
Employers suffer the loss too. AVIs select for people who can talk into air, not people who can interact well with others, though the latter is more important in most jobs. What’s more, an interview is a company’s first real interaction with potential employees, some of whom it will want to hire. It should be a chance for both sides to learn about each other.
1. Why does the author mention his first job interview experience?| A．To make young jobseekers confident. | B．To show the boredom of job interviews. |
| C．To indicate the difficulty in job seeking. | D．To prove that he was superior to others. |
| A．The use of AVIs. | B．The advantages of AVIs. |
| C．Introduction to brand platforms. | D．Roles of AVIs and hiring managers. |
| A．Going backdoor. | B．Spending less. | C．Being chosen. | D．Being interviewed. |
| A．Disgusted. | B．Tolerant. | C．Supportive. | D．Cautious. |
【推荐3】Tight-lipped elders used to say, “It’s not what you want in this world, but what you get.”
Psychology teaches that you do get what you want if you know what you want and want the right things.
You can make a mental blueprint of a desire as you would make a blueprint of a house, and each of us is continually making these blueprints in the general routine of everyday living. If we intend to have friends to dinner, we plan the menu, make a shopping list, decide which food to cook first, and such planning is an essential for any type of meal to be served.
Likewise, if you want to find a job, take a sheet of paper, and write a brief account of yourself. In making a blueprint for a job, begin with yourself, for when you know exactly what you have to offer, you can intelligently plan where to sell your services.
This account of yourself is actually a sketch of your working life and should include education, experience and references. Such an account is valuable. It can be referred to in filling out standard application blanks and is extremely helpful in personal interviews. While talking to you, you could-be employer is deciding whether your education, your experience, and other qualifications, will pay him to employ you and your “wares” and abilities must be displayed in an orderly and reasonably connected manner.
When you have carefully prepared a blueprint of your abilities and desires, you have something tangible to sell. Then you are ready to hunt for a job. Get all the possible information about your could-be job. Make inquiries as to the details regarding the job and the firm. Keep your eyes and ears open, and use your own judgment. Spend a certain amount of time each day seeking the employment you wish for, and keep in mind: Securing a job is your job now.
1. What do the elders mean when they say the underlined sentence in Paragraph 1?| A．You’ll certainly get what you want. |
| B．It’s no use dreaming. |
| C．You should be dissatisfied with what you have. |
| D．It’s essential to set a goal for yourself. |
| A．an illustration of how to write an application for a job |
| B．an indication of how to secure a good job |
| C．a guideline for the description of your desired job |
| D．a principle for your job evaluation |
| A．Because that is the first step to please the employer. |
| B．Because that is the requirement of the employer. |
| C．Because it enables him to know when to sell his services. |
| D．Because it forces him to become clearly aware of himself. |
| A．specific to offer | B．imaginary to provide |
| C．practical to supply | D．desirable to present |
【推荐1】Facebook has taken over a start-up named CTRL-Labs, which is developing devices that can pick up electrical signals from the brain and transmit them to a computer. CTRL-Labs has designed a wristband that can identify the signals the brain sends to the hand telling it to move, and decode (解码) them. It could then transmit that command — for example, to press a button — to a computer or other devices.
It also captures (捕捉) your intention”, said Facebook VR president Andrew Bosworth. “So you can share a photo with a friend using an imperceptible (极细微的) movement or just by, well, intending to,” he said in a post on his personal Facebook page.
Facebook has not confirmed a report by CNBC which claimed that the deal was worth between $500 m and $ l bn (£0.4bn and £0.8bn).). Mr Bosworth said he hoped the CTRL-Labs team would help Facebook to “build this kind of technology, at scale and get it into consumer products faster”.
There was a mixed response to the news.
“Facebook needed to leave us alone. Step away from our lives more.” tweeted tech commentator Azeem Azhar.
“I’m very curious to see what the response is from regulators here,” wrote an analyst Fatemeh Khatibloo.
Underneath Andrew Bosworth’s Facebook post, Josh Chan, founder of an educational app, said the news was exciting.
“As an educator, I’m imagining how this could transform how we all learn,” he said.
Facebook implied it would be some time before the product came to market. “The CTRL-Labs technology is an innovative input that Facebook hopes will be used to significantly improve the upcoming Facebook VR experiences a few years down the road to fundamentally improve the user experience.” it said.
Facebook may have more to say about the new acquisition on Wednesday at its annual VR headset event, which the firm purchased in 2014 for around $2bn.
1. What does the underlined sentence imply?| A．Facebook should not affect people’s lives any more. |
| B．Facebook should get less involved in people’s lives. |
| C．Facebook should be less concerned about people’s lives. |
| D．People’s lives have been totally disturbed by Facebook. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. | C．Objective. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．The acquisition of a start-up company that has designed a fancy wristband. |
| B．The design of a high-tech product that can greatly affect people’s lives. |
| C．The development of a wristband that can capture users’ intentions. |
| D．The purchase of a start-up company that is developing a mind-reading product. |
【推荐2】A brand is a name, word, sign, symbol, design, or a combination of these, intended to identify the goods or services of a company or a group of companies. Another purpose of a brand is to contrast one company from another. The most important skill of professional marketers is the ability to create, maintain, protect, and enhance the brands of their products and services. Branding has become so important that today hardly any company or product is without one. Therefore, brand management is an increasingly important element in marketing.
Brand power refers to the relative strength of a company’s brand in the minds of consumers, and can influence consumers’ choice of products. Brands are powerful to the extent that they give high brand loyalty and strong brand associations, name recognition, perceived quality and other assets to a company. A strong brand can be one of a company’s most important assets.
High brand power provides a company with many competitive advantages. A powerful brand enjoys a high level of consumer brand awareness and loyalty. Because consumers expect stores to carry the brand, the company has more bargaining power when negotiating with retailers (零售商). And because the brand name brings high credibility, a company with a strong brand can more easily launch new products with the same brand name.
Many companies use the advantage of a strong brand power strategically to expand their business. When a company introduces an additional item with a new flavour, form, colour or package size in a given product category and under the same brand name, it is called a line extension. Another strategy is called brand extension. This involves the use of a successful brand name to launch new or modified products in a new category, thereby employing brand recognition in order to increase sales of new products.
Brand recognition is certainly important. Because consumers often hold long-standing perceptions about brands, high brand power ensure a company continued sales of its products.
1. What does the word “assets” in the 2nd paragraph mean?
| A．points | B．advantages | C．aspects | D．elements |
| A．a high brand wins the loyalty of consumers |
| B．a high brand usually sets a much higher price |
| C．it’s easy for a high brand company to launch new products |
| D．a high brand company is more competitive when doing business with retailers |
| A．happens when the company is developing a new product |
| B．means the expansion of a company’s business in its established field |
| C．takes place when the company introduces a similar item but with a new colour |
| D．refers to the use of an established brand name to promote a new product in a new category |
| A．Brand Power | B．Famous Brands |
| C．Company Brands | D．Brand Products |
【推荐3】Criticism of Big Tech is intensifying. At Congressional hearings last week, politicians from across the aisle gave a rough ride to executives of some of the world's most valuable companies. Amid the hubbub(喧哗), the resignation of Google's Meredith Whittaker was less noticed, but significant. Ms Whittaker, a Google artificial intelligence researcher, was a leader of protests insider the company last year. In an internal note to fellow employees, she warned that developers have a “short window in which to act" to stop increasingly dangerous uses of artificial intelligence.
Ms Whittaker' s resignation reflects a growing tendency for tech companies' own staff to try to serve as the moral compass and conscience of their businesses. In companies whose value relies so much on human and intellectual capital ---and in being able to attract the sharpest minds ---employees have considerable potential impact, especially collectively.
The Google Walkouts of which Ms Whittaker was a leader began in response to the search group's treatment of sexual harassment complaints. They snowballed to include broader issues around the company’s technologies. Ms Whittaker’s decision now to resign suggests many Big Tech companies are still not doing enough to attend to employees' concerns over corporate culture. Yet responding to internal calls to action should be an obvious choice. Threats of strikes or resignations by the talented staff who build systems risk undermining technology companies' competitiveness. Employee action can act to strengthen measures by regulators who are increasingly proactive in dealing with the excesses of Big Tech.
The rise of collective action for social good is encouraging. Traditional labour focuses ----such as workers' rights around pay and hours ----- remain important in a sector which still also makes heavy uses of cheap and poorly-skilled workers. Attempts to pressure companies into behaving ethically have more often been driven by single employees. Avenues are needed to ensure that workers can discuss potentially unethical practices without risking revenge.
Ms Whittaker’s proposal for unionisation is part of a broader chorus demanding greater employee oversight. Alphabet, Google’s parent, has already faced calls from union-sponsored pension funds to add a non-executive employee representative to its board. While not successful this year, the move showed that stakeholders such as investors are pressing for culture change within Big Tech companies.
Workers outside the tech sector, too, are forcing companies to try to solve international problems. A global climate strike is planned for September，encouraging workers to join the thousands of school students who have protested over the past year. In the advertising industry, workers at over 20 agencies refused to work on fossil fuel briefs in solidarity, inspired by the Extinction Rebellion protests. Big Tech, facing ever more open criticism should see the message is clear. To regain trust, it will have to engage not just with regulators, but with its own employees and stakeholders.
1. We can learn from the first paragraph that Ms Whittaker _________| A．drew much criticism from politicians. |
| B．opposed Google's risky uses of AL. |
| C．disagreed with her colleagues on the future of AI. |
| D．resigned because her talent in AI was not recognized. |
| A．can serve as the moral models for traditional labour. |
| B．should keep sharpening their minds. |
| C．can pressure companies into behaving ethically. |
| D．should improve internal collaboration. |
| A．damage a company's reputation. |
| B．threaten a company's competitiveness. |
| C．impair a company' s corporate culture. |
| D．strengthen a company 's management system. |
| A．Employees Can Help to Make Big Tech Moral |
| B．Big Tech Staff Are Different from Traditional Labour |
| C．The Tech Sector Is Facing Ever More Criticism |
| D．The Tech Sector Is in a Wave of Resignations |
【推荐1】Nowadays, the most effective way to get power comes from burning fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas. They are less costly than other forms of energy. But burning fuels releases carbon dioxide, known as CO2 gas. Scientists agree that increasing amount of CO2 in Earth’s atmosphere is partly to blame for the rising temperature. It's clear the change in the atmosphere can have a big effect on the weather condition around the world.
However, keeping extra CO2 from entering the atmosphere is a difficult process. It’s not enough to advise people to burn the fuels in a clean way. As a result, scientists are looking for the best method for capturing the gas and storing it away from the atmosphere. Some of this research is taking place in Norway. The Technology Center in Mongstad (TCM) is the largest facility in the world for major testing of the CO2-capturing technology.
Tore Amundsen is its chairman. He says TCM has produced important information since it opened. The center is connected to a nearby electric power plant. It treats the waste gas from the plant using the chemical solvent (溶剂) which attracts the CO2 molecules. Then researchers take the solvent with the CO2 molecules and boil it. In this way, they can separate CO2 from the solvent and use the solvent again to capture more CO2. TCM can help capture 90 percent of the CO2 from the waste gas. With the current state of technology, it will increase the cost of electricity between perhaps 30% to 40% when the technology is applied to a power plant.
Experts say the best way to store the captured CO2 gas is to place it below the surface of the ground. Scientists can use the pumping technology to put it into areas left empty after the removal of oil or natural gas. But TCM does not pump the CO2 it captures. Instead, it releases the gas into the atmosphere. Tore Amundsen says only highly developed industrial nations can afford the pumping technology. So far, only Canada has a power plant that pumps CO2 gas. In total, there are just a few similar power plants in the world.
1. What can we learn about the CO2 gas?| A．It is usually found in coal. |
| B．It leads to world climate change. |
| C．It is a new kind of energy. |
| D．It does good to the atmosphere. |
| A．sending it into the atmosphere |
| B．finding clean fuels to use |
| C．collecting it with technology |
| D．stopping people from burning fuels |
| A．It works well in treating the waste gas. |
| B．It’s the only center to study the CO2 gas. |
| C．It was set up by Tore Amundsen. |
| D．It helps the power plant save a lot of money. |
| A．can be used with oil or natural gas |
| B．should be put underground |
| C．must be allowed to go into the air |
| D．should stay in the chemical solvent |
【推荐2】Snow leopards (豹) are so hard to photograph that scientists aren’t even sure how many of these endangered animals still live in the wild.
The Snow Leopard Conservancy(SLC) set up 20 cameras in Russia in 2010 to learn more about the big cats. After a full six months, they had exactly zero picture! That’s when the organization understood they needed help. And the only people who could help them in finding the leopards were the very people from whom they wanted to protect the animals—local hunters (猎人).
Hunting snow leopards is against the law in Russia, but in the terrible climate of Siberia, the few people living there had to turn to poaching (盗猎) to feed their families.
In 2013, Russian naturalist Sergei Spitsyn approached Mergen Markov, a local hunter, and told him his project. Markov agreed to set up the camera where he knew he would find leopards, and it worked.
Markov, once a poacher, works full time for the conservationists now and has 10 cameras monitoring leopards. “I visit each camera once a month. I have known this whole region since I was a child,” he said proudly.
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) began working with other local villagers in 2015. The village would be paid 40,000 rubles at the end of the year if the image of a snow leopard is caught. WWF also rents horses from the villagers so that they do not need to make money by poaching anymore. “Today there are far fewer leopard poachers but leopards still get caught in traps set for other animals, so I have to stay watchful,” said Markov.
Changing guns for cameras has made a big difference in the lives of these former poachers, the village, and the Russian snow leopards. The number of snow leopards has been rising and their population is expected to recover to normal levels within 10 years.
1. Why was no picture of snow leopards taken in six months?| A．SLC’s 20 cameras failed to work properly. |
| B．The number of snow leopards in the wild was too small. |
| C．The local poachers destroyed these cameras on purpose. |
| D．The researchers knew little about the animal’s living habits. |
| A．Find the poachers. | B．Repair cameras in the forest. |
| C．Catch more leopards. | D．Work for SLC. |
| A．To get some pictures of snow leopards. |
| B．To help villagers make a living. |
| C．To prevent villagers from hunting animals. |
| D．To rent their horses at a low price. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. | B．Curiosity kills the cat. |
| C．Kill two birds with one stone. | D．Old habits die hard. |
【推荐3】Messages in honor of Stan Lee are pouring in on social media and other online sites.
Lee is the creator of famous comic book (连环漫画) characters, including Spider-Man, the Hulk, Black Panther and others. He died in Los Angeles, California, Monday. He was 95 years old. Marvel Entertainment and its parent company, Walt Disney, posted a video about the late writer, editor and publisher on their websites. Disney chairman and chief Bob Iger said Lee is "a super hero in his own right to Marvel fans around the world." He compared Lee to his comic book characters with "the power to inspire, to entertain, and to connect."
Lee was born Stanley Martin Leiber in New York City. He began writing for comic books at 19. He wrote under the name Stan Lee. He explained that he used a false name because he wanted to write a serious and great piece of literature someday. He did not want his link with comic books to be known when that happened. But it never did happen. As the pride in his work grew, he decided to legally change his name to Stan Lee.
Lee's comic book heroes stand apart from its competitor DC, the company that produced the seemingly perfect heroes like Superman and Wonder Woman. Lee's character often had super power, but they also had weaknesses and moral (道德的) failings. In a piece for Marvel in 1969, Lee discussed the importance of creating these balanced characters. Nobody is all good, or all bad, he wrote, like Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man. He is a deeply gifted inventor with serious mental health issues; or, Peter Parker, a sensitive, brainy high-school student who has no idea how to deal with the frightening abilities he gets from the bite of a radioactive spider. Even Steve Rogers, whose Captain America was the most Superman-like of the Marvel group, had problems. Rejected as a candidate for the armed forces, he volunteers to take a "supersoldier" substance to make him a super-fighting machine.
Actor Chris Evans has played that character in several Hollywood films. He posted a tribute (悼念) to Captain America's creator on Twitter Monday."There will never be another Stan Lee," he wrote. Actor, writer and funny man Seth Rogen never played one of Lee's characters but he remembered him with thanks in a Tweet."Thank you Stan Lee for making people who feel different realize they are special," he wrote.
1. Stan Lee created many famous comic character, except ________.| A．Iron Man | B．Superman |
| C．Captain America | D．Spider Man |
| A．he wanted to be famous for the false name |
| B．he didn't want to be known as a comic book writer |
| C．he wanted his name to be linked with his comic books |
| D．he didn't want to be known as a serious literature writer |
| A．They are good at making people feel special. |
| B．They are moral figures without weak points. |
| C．They are more balanced characters than DC heroes. |
| D．They are seemingly perfect heroes with super powers. |
| A．To remember a great cartoonist. |
| B．To introduce marvel comic heroes. |
| C．To encourage studies on comics. |
| D．To promote products of marvel. |
【推荐1】Myth was born in childhood of human being. It is a product of ancient imagination, which can conquer nature, dominate nature and make the power of nature have its own image. It is a cultural phenomenon in civilized society.
China and Greece are birthplaces of Orient and Western civilizations. Prime Minister Constantine Caramanlis of Greece once pointed out: '' The civilization of China brought light to the Far East and the whole of Asia, as Greece thought, the cornerstone of European civilization, brought light to the West. '' However, for some reasons, there are many differences between Chinese and Greek myth, which show their own unique national spirits and moral principles.
The ancestors of Chinese nation lived on land before one million and seven hundred thousand years. After long uncivilized times, ancient Chinese gradually created civilization. In prehistory, ancient Chinese lived and struggled. Most ancestors’ achievements of tribes have been passed down orally. This is old myth. According to some archaeological materials, single myth, which has the meaning of totem(图腾), had appeared in the Late Palaeolithic Age. As the mental belief, totem is the holiest and the most beautiful symbol in ancient tribes’ mind. It is their aesthetic conception(审美观). On the contrary, the history of Greece is shorter, and Greek myth produced later than Chinese myth. It produced in about eleventh century BC, and it was far from the age of totem worship. That was the Age of Heroes. Human wisdom had been more and more important and totem worship had tended to disappear. So ancient Greeks thought that human being was the most beautiful in the world. They gave their deities(神灵) the most beautiful images. Those are images of human beings.
China lies in an isolated pocket in East Asia, surrounded by impassable mountains, deserts, seas and valleys. This environment develops a continental culture where people are only looking inward, a farming culture centers on soil, discouraging any adventurous seefaring people. In addition, Chinese myth produced in the Yellow River and the Yangtze River Valley. In both zones, the volume of rain is abundant all the year round. Because the soil is fertile and the resources are rich, both areas are suitable for agriculture. It became the typical continental agriculture. They would not like to take their own lives to struggle with terrifying waves, but would rather work hard in gentle land. Just the ancient Chinese who lived in this continent created this unique myth, ancient Chinese myth.
Contrary to China, Greece is a poor country, barren and dry. Unlike the rich river valleys Yellow River and Yangtze River, its rivers are too small to be navigable, and they dry up in the heat of the mostly rainless summers. The Greek landscape is dominated by high mountains, which occupy about three quarters of the land. As rich land was limited in Greece, to survive, ancient Greeks had to look outward. Sea is the greatest Greek natural resource. It plays a central role in the life of Greeks. The Chinese seas don’t look navigable, but the Greek seas look like swimming pools. The Chinese sailor, if he happens to be, sails for days without any land in sight. In fact, he can easily get drowned before he has a chance to get anywhere. The Greek sailor, who is always fortunate, can spot islands in all directions on clear days. With these steppingstones, he can reach any part of the Mediterranean to trade, to stay, to conquer and to colonize. They like to learn advanced technique and cultures from other countries. This provided living space for independence of Greek myth. Frankly speaking, marine civilization created the great Greek myth.
1. What is the passage mainly about?| A．The differences between Chinese and Greek myth. |
| B．The definition of myths and why they came into existence. |
| C．The reasons for the differences between Chinese and Greek myth. |
| D．The factors resulting in Chinese myth being more advanced than Greek myth. |
| A．He has a strong affection for his country’s civilizations. |
| B．He holds a positive attitude towards the study of myth. |
| C．He agrees with Constantine in terms of Greek myth. |
| D．He presents his main point of view in an objective tone. |
| A．Chinese myth came into being 1.7 million years earlier than Greek myth. |
| B．The appearance of totem marked the birth of Chinese civilization. |
| C．Deities in Greek myth are wiser and more beautiful than Chinese ones. |
| D．The time when the myth produced has great influence on its images. |
| A．display the geographical differences between China and Greece |
| B．compare the agriculture civilization and the marine civilization |
| C．show how environment causes the differences of the two myths |
| D．reveal why Chinese are more conservative than western people |
| A．of advanced level | B．of or relating to the sea |
| C．independent of anything | D．willing to make adventures |
a. aesthetic conception
b.surviving skills
c.independent spirits
d.adventurous spirits
e.forming process
| A．ace | B．bcd |
| C．ade | D．abd |
【推荐2】Italy has produced many brilliant minds who have made their mark on art history. During the Renaissance(文艺复兴), the Italian city-states were at the center of an incredible flowering of visual culture that would not only influence generations onward but would also redefine what it meant to be an artist. Painters and sculptors came to be seen not only as craftsmen, but also men of learning who could express something deeply personal. Then came the drama and intensity of the Baroque artists. Modern times brought more change, some artists explored deeply into their medium while others turned to political and social issues. All along the way, there were standout personalities who illuminated the concerns of their time. Check out some of the most interesting figures in Italian art.
Leonardo da Vinci
Much has been said about this true Renaissance man, who was not only a painter but a mathematician, scientist, engineer, inventor, architect and much, much more. His endless curiosity and imagination led him to dream up machines that were far ahead of his time, study anatomy(解剖学) in brand-new ways and, of course, create paintings and drawings that would impress people for many centuries. In his paintings, there is an overwhelming sense of the mystery of existence – the mystery that he sought to chase and understand.
Michelangelo Buonarotti
In many ways, Michelangelo defined what it means to be an artist. Though he’s known for his paintings, he considered himself first and foremost a sculptor. Born and raised in a little town, he grew up to be a master of anatomy. He used the straining and twisting muscles of the human body to express his powerful vision of the world. His design of the Laurentian Library pioneered Mannerist architecture.
Giovanni Bellini
Bellini was the Venetian of the Renaissance who took the medium of oil painting to a new expressive capacity. He was the pioneer of a technique where the colors were gradually built up in thin, translucent(半透明) layers. The end result is glossy, rich and shining like no other. In his paintings, you’ll find a kind of peaceful silence, lighted by gorgeous colors that seem to be lit from within.
Artemisia Gentileschi
Artemisia is one of the great boundary-breaking painters of the Baroque era. Female artists of her time were confined to still life paintings and portraits, because it was considered improper for women to paint from the nude figure. But Artemisia wouldn’t let that stop her. At just 17, she broke taboos with her painting of Susanna and the Elders, in which she proudly displays a full-frontal nude(裸体) in the center of the frame. She was raped two years later by another painter and experienced physical sufferings during the investigation of the trial, but her struggles only fueled her artistic production as she turned out painting after painting of strong, defiant women.
1. Which of the following group is the common point of the works of the artists mentioned above?| A．Pioneer and original | B．Conservative but pioneer |
| C．Powerful and beautiful | D．Mysterious but direct |
| A．admirable | B．challenging |
| C．disrespectful | D．obedient |
| A．Giovanni was expert at making use of colors and was also a leader in artistic expression. |
| B．As a master of anatomy, Michelangelo handled human bodies very well in his works. |
| C．Despite their amazing sculptures, sculptors were seen as craftsman during the Renaissance. |
| D．Leonardo da Vinci was curious and imaginative enough to stand ahead of his times. |
【推荐3】"The firefighters of Paris told me they are very hopeful about saving the northern tower, " French Junior Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on Twitter late Monday, adding that the firefighting efforts would continue for hours.
The Notre Dame Cathedral(巴黎圣母院)， one of the most famous landmarks in the French capital， was engulfed in flames Monday evening as a catastrophic fire tore through the historic structure， collapsing its spire as fire officials raced to save the monument from total destruction.
Video and photos posted on social media showed flames engulfing the cathedral, thus both the ceiling and the 90-meter spire came crashing down. The fire spread to one of the cathedral's towers, but French officials said late Monday that firefighters were optimistic they could save both towers.
French President Emmanuel Macron said a national fundraising campaign would be launched on Tuesday and called on the world's "greatest talents" to assist in the effort. "We will rebuild, Macron told reporters. "We will rebuild Notre Dame because this is what the French expect, because this is what our history deserves.
Officials said there were no deaths in the fire. Jean-Claude Gallet, chief of the Parisian fire department, said one firefighter was injured while responding to the flame. Two-thirds of the cathedral's roof was destroyed, Gal let said. The fire broke out just before p. m. minutes after the cathedral, which has been partly rebuilt, closed to the public. Around 30 000 people visit the church daily.
Despite its long history and many treasures the Cathedral needed the help of a writer to become truly famous. Victor Hugo's 1831 novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, presented the building to a wide audience of readers. The book's ugly lead character, Quasimodo, serves as a symbol for Paris forgotten Gothic architecture. Hugo wrote the book to remind people of it, with hope they would work to protect the beautiful old buildings of Paris. The loss of cultural relics will never come again if they are lost only once. This is a painful loss of world civilization.
1. The following issues are wrongly stated in the text except________________.| A．the Notre Dame Cathedral was totally destroyed |
| B．firefighters were pessimistic because they couldn't save both towers |
| C．a national fundraising campaign would be launched to rebuild the cathedral |
| D．the Cathedral became truly famous for its long history and many treasures |
| A．Flooded. | B．Swallowed. |
| C．Disappeared. | D．Constructed. |
| A．A fire broke out in the Notre Dame Cathedral |
| B．The mystery of the Notre Dame Cathedral |
| C．A national fundraising campaign |
| D．The rebuilding of the Notre Dame Cathedral |
