“If you are cold, it will warm you; if you are too heated, it will cool you; if you are depressed, it will cheer you; if you are exhausted, it will calm you.” The poem best identifies the passion for tea in Britain. Outside of the United Kingdom, many people refer to afternoon tea as “high tea”. Afternoon tea, also known as low tea, is what most people think of when they hear “high tea”. It involves things like manners, lace(蕾丝) and light meals such as cookies and finger sandwiches. It is typically served in the mid-afternoon and it was traditionally served on low tables, therefore its two names.
Legend has it that afternoon tea was started in the mid-1800s by the Duchess(公爵夫人) of Bedford. Around that time, kerosene(煤油) lamps were introduced into wealthier homes and eating a late dinner( around 8 or 9 p.m.) became fashionable. This increasingly late dinner was one of the only two meals each day, and the other was a mid-morning one. The story goes that the Duchess found herself with a “sinking feeling”. This came from hunger during the long wait between meals. She decided to invite friends over for various snacks and tea. The idea of an afternoon tea gathering spread across high society and became a favorite pastime of females for leisure. Later, it spread to other social groups.
However, the British working population did not have afternoon tea. They had a meal about midday, and a meal after work, between five and seven o’clock. This meal was called “high tea” or just “tea”. Traditionally eaten early evening, high tea was a substantial meal that combined delicious sweet food, such as cookies, cakes or tea bread, with heavy food, such as cheese on toast, cold meals and poached eggs on toast. This meal is now often replaced with a supper due to people eating their main meal in the evening rather than at midday.
1. What is the author’s purpose of using a poem at the beginning of the passage?| A．To introduce a topic. | B．To present a puzzle. |
| C．To describe the phenomenon. | D．To clarify his writing purpose. |
| A．Kerosene lamps were used at home. |
| B．Upper class had more free time. |
| C．Drinking tea makes people feel good. |
| D．Duchess of Bedford was influential in social circle. |
| A．Simple food and tea. | B．Being served on low tables. |
| C．A ladies’ social occasion. | D．Serving time. |
| A．Origins of Tea. | B．Ways of Low Tea. |
| C．Traditional Afternoon Tea. | D．High Tea and Low Tea. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】Donald Watson was born in Yorkshire and spent much of his youth on his uncle’s farm. But rather than make him feel at ease with breeding animals for food, the realization that these “friendly creatures” ended up being killed horrified him.
Watson’s diet was filled mostly with nuts, apples, dried fruit, vegetables and lentils (小扁豆).
Nowadays vegans are no longer cooking their own vegetables and lentils.
Donald Watson certainly lived a long life without dairy and meat. This apparently has proved the possibility of living well without consuming animal products. But if he had lived on industrially produced vegan food, it might have been a different story.
| A．He continued breeding the animals. |
| B．He became a vegetarian in 1924, aged 14. |
| C．While his diet proved unhealthy, a different picture is appearing. |
| D．They’ve got vegan chicken nuggets, vegan burgers, and vegan sausages. |
| E．Today, being a vegan doesn’t automatically mean you’re eating a healthy diet. |
| F．These alternatives might be worse for our health than the meat they are replacing. |
| G．Fast forward to today, and Watson would have been astonished at the vegan food varieties. |
【推荐2】At a supermarket, two women are shopping. One is a stay-at-home housewife who loves to create delicious masterpieces. The other is a supervisor at an advertising agency. The two ladies stop in the frozen foods section. "I'm so tired, "sighs the professional woman." I don't know what to do about supper. "Her friend suggests, "What about a microwave dinner?" The weary professional sighs, "I don't feel like cooking tonight."
It is true that Americans have cakes for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and instant dinners. Most Americans enjoy the convenience of prepackaged meals that can be served in 10 minutes or less. However, if you think American cooking means throwing the packaged contents into the microwave, think again. Many Americans recognize the value of cooking skills, admitting that there's nothing better than a good home-cooked meal.
For those who need guidance in their cooking, recipes are lifesavers. Recipes list all the ingredients for a dish, the amount of each to use, and a description of how to put them together. Most good cooks have a shelf full of cookbooks ranging from locally published recipe collections to national bestsellers. Magazines devoted to home management, are full of tasty selections. Friends often increase their recipe collection by passing around their favorites cards.
For experienced cooks, recipes are merely references. They often make adjustments, depending on the people they need to serve, the available ingredients and their personal taste. Some cooks prefer instead to depend on their feelings to cook the right flavors.
Of course, as a "land of immigrants," America has imported all varieties of cooking. Most good cooks in America are "fluent" in several cooking "dialects": Mexican, Italian, Chinese and traditional American style, just to name a few. But whatever the dialect, cooking is a language everyone understands.
1. The conversation in Paragraph 1 aims ________.| A．to criticize the lazy supervisor |
| B．to lead to the topic of the text |
| C．to stress the importance of dinner |
| D．to compare two women's hobbies |
| A．Frozen foods. | B．Sandwiches. |
| C．Prepackaged meals. | D．Home-cooked meals. |
| A．Recipes can save people's lives in danger. |
| B．It is clear how to put the recipes together. |
| C．Finding recipes in America is very easy. |
| D．Good cooks like reading bestsellers. |
| A．Recipes in America | B．American Cooks |
| C．Two American Ladies | D．American Cooking |
【推荐3】“Can I have a glass of hot water?” This is a very common question for Chinese customers in a restaurant．For many Chinese people, nothing is more common than drinking hot water every day.However, the simple habit is like a mystery to some from other countries.
For many Westerners, the idea of drinking hot water is very strange.However, most Chinese people think the Americans' habit of drinking ice water is equally odd and even unhealthy.Some seniors would even carry a tea kettle when they travel, since their Chinese stomachs refuse to take the cold water from the tap.Drinking hot water is considered to be healthier among Chinese people.Traditional Chinese medicine explains drinking cold water leads to an imbalance in temperature.Chinese doctors are encouraging more people outside China to take on the habit of drinking hot water, especially for women.
But in Western countries, drinking hot water isn't common.Westerners often take drinks with ice, not just on hot days but almost every day.
There is a story online that a British man, who has been in Beijing for over five years, visited a local cafe when going back to England.He was waited on by a friendly waitress and in a British accent said, "Can I have a glass of hot water? Please?" The waitress' eyes widened.She was so confused."To… to… to drink?" she doubted.Eventually, the man received the steaming liquid but felt cold stares from every corner of the cafe.
Westerners are as curious about why Chinese people drink hot water as Chinese are about why Westerners drink cold water.This cultural difference is not a simple issue(问题), but related to history, culture, and science.
As a matter of fact, many teenagers now rely on bottled water for daily drinking.With the younger generation growing up, will drinking hot water become a less popular life habit? Who knows!
1. What does the underlined word “odd” in paragraph 2 mean?
| A．common | B．strange |
| C．satisfying | D．convenient |
| A．Westerners | B．Chinese |
| C．Women | D．The elderly |
| A．Drinking hot water is very good for health. |
| B．Drinking cold water is very harmful for health. |
| C．Different drinking habits are probably related to different cultures. |
| D．More and more people will use bottled water for daily drinking. |
| A．opposed(反对的) | B．supportive |
| C．negative | D．unclear |
【推荐1】To most Americans ---- and probably most Westerners --- romantic love is the greatest love of all. In fact, romantic love sometimes considered the very definition of love. We often use “love” as shorthand for romantic love, just as we use the word “relationship” without even thinking that we need to point out that we mean “romantic relationship”.
Before I started studying single life, I had no idea why contemporary American views of love were so narrow. Then I spent a long time reading.
When I wrote Single Out, I summarized some of what I learned this way:
From Middle Ages through early modern times, to describe the love for a spouse(配偶) as the greatest love of all would have been sacrilegious. The most special place in anyone’s heart was supposed to be reserved for God. Over the years, many kinds of people and entitles (独立存在物) have been considered deserving of love and affection. They have included spiritual figures and ancestors, immediate and extended family, friends and communities.
As Stephanie Coontz, author of a fascinating book Marriage A History, noted, during 1800s, Westerners believed that love developed slowly out of admiration, respect, and appreciation; therefore, the love one felt for a sweetheart was not seen as qualitatively different from the feeling one might have for a sister , a friend, or even an idea.
The ruling American worldview may well represent one of the narrowest explanations of love ever imagined. Where once the definition of love and affection reached out to family, friends and communities, reached back to ancestors, and reached up to the heavens, now they surround and squeeze just one other person --- sometimes to the point of asphyxiation(窒息).
Is any of this changing? Maybe. More and more people are living single. Those people who do marry are, on the average, getting around to it later in life than ever before. Americans spend more years of their adult lives not married than married. One potential hint of these big changes is that we will start recognizing how much other kinds of people and pursuits matter to us. We may realize, for example, that a life filled with close friendships is a life filled with love. Those of us who are fortunate enough to take and fulfill jobs may feel freer to say that we love our work. And if we are single, maybe we will be able to do so with less risk of being dismissed as using our work as compensation for not having a spouse.
1. What does the text mainly indicate?| A．The hint of love changes these days. |
| B．Love used to mean so much more. |
| C．Love all instead of only your spouse. |
| D．Which is better, to marry or to be single? |
| A．Poor. |
| B．Ridiculous. |
| C．Showing a great respect for love. |
| D．Showing a lack of respect for God. |
| A．Romantic love doesn’t always come ahead of other loves. |
| B．Coontz thinks all kinds of loves come from appreciation. |
| C．That love develops slowly is popular in American society. |
| D．Americans’ view of love today is only an imagination. |
| A．More and more Americans want to be single. |
| B．More and more Americans tend to delay marriage. |
| C．There are many people who want work instead of marriage. |
| D．There are so many ways that our lives can be filled with love. |
【推荐2】Minor Cold: A sugary feast to get through the freezing winter
Minor Cold, or “Xiaohan” in Chinese, is the 23rd of the 24 solar terms in the Chinese lunar calendar
Eight treasures rice pudding or “babaofan” in Mandarin is a special sweet rice dish enjoyed during Minor Cold and Chinese New Year dinner. In Chinese, the number eight is pronounced as “ba”, which is similar to another Chinese word “fa”.
For Chinese people, this time of year also sees preparation for the most important festival of the year: the Spring Festival.
The ancient Chinese noticed the slight changes in seasons by observing the movements of the birds. Wild geese would usually start to fly back to the north while the magpies (喜鹊) make their nests. These animals remind people of the beginning of the suitable farming and life for Minor Cold.
| A．It means getting rich or booming in business. |
| B．However, “babaofan” is not the only traditional food for Minor Cold. |
| C．For most areas of China, Minor Cold is the beginning of the coldest period. |
| D．Even though temperatures drop suddenly at this time, spring is not far away. |
| E．The last lunar month, known as “Layue”, usually begins around Minor Cold. |
| F．Cabbage is easy to preserve in the winter and tastes better after being preserved. |
| G．With each solar term, there comes a set of customs that are related to the time of a year. |
【推荐3】What are martial (武术的)arts and swordsmen like? To most Chinese, the answer to this question can be found in the works of the late novelist Jin Yong. Jin, whose real name was Zha Liangyong, died on Tuesday evening in Hong Kong, aged 94. The news soon spread all over Chinese mainland, where he inspired a generation, guiding them into the world of Wuxia, namely, swordsmen.
In his books, readers can learn about Chinese calligraphy(书法), painting,music,medicine and wine. He was the most successful writer in popularizing traditional Chinese culture. Chinese people had a deeply-rooted admiration for noble qualities and love for the country. So he won many people’s heart. Many people are fond of watching films and TV dramas adapted from his books, which influenced many peopled personality and value.
Jin’s influence knew no national boundary. No matter in New York, Singapore or Vancouver, where there are Chinese, there are his readers. His death marks the end of an era for martial art novels. We can hardly expect to see other writers with such influence and artistic achievement as him.
In terms of writing technique, Jin borrowed from Western plays. Some of his plots were just like ancient Greek tragedy. For instance, in his Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils (《天龙八部》), the hero was like a tragic figure in Greek mythology. Writers in the West created new worlds like the one in the Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. If there is an imagined world in China, that is the world with martial arts and swordsmen Jin wrote for us.
1. How does Jin influence his readers?| A．By making films and TV dramas. |
| B．By making his readers read his books. |
| C．By making his readers love for country. |
| D．By making traditional Chinese culture popular. |
| A．Jin knew no national boundary. |
| B．Other writers can get achievement as him. |
| C．An era of martial art novels was ended as he died. |
| D．People live in foreign countries are his readers. |
| A．Chinese novels. | B．Western plays. |
| C．Greek tragedy. | D．Greek mythology. |
| A．The Basic Introduction of Jin's Life |
| B．Jin's Writing Technique of His Books |
| C．Jin's Making Martial Arts and Swordsmen Better |
| D．The World of Jin's Martial Arts and Swordsmen |
【推荐1】English author, Richard Savage, was once living in London in great poverty(贫穷). In order to earn a little money, he had written the story of his life, but not many copies of the book had been sold in the shop, and Savage was living from hand to mouth. As a result of his lack(缺乏) of food, he became very ill, but after a time, because of the skill of the doctor who had looked after him, he got well again. After a week or two, the doctor sent a bill to Savage for his visits, but poor Savage hadn’t any money and couldn’t pay it. The doctor waited for another month and sent the bill again. But still no money came. After several weeks he sent it to him again asking for his money. In the end he came to Savage’s house and asked him for payment, saying to Savage, “You know you owe your life to me and I expected some gratitude(=thanks) from you.”
“I agree,” said Savage, “that I owe my life to you, and to prove to you that I am not ungrateful for your work, I will give my life to you.” With these words he handed to him two copies entitled(=named), ‘The Life of Richard Saves’.
1. The best title for this text should be ________.| A．A Life for a Life | B．A Skilled Doctor |
| C．A Poor English Writer | D．The Life of Richard Savage |
| A．Savage was very poor and ill |
| B．Savage lived a very poor life |
| C．Savage had clothes to wear and food to eat |
| D．Savage had no money to buy clothes and food |
| A．a funny story | B．an unhappy story |
| C．a poor story | D．an ungrateful story |
| A．Savage paid the bill with his life. |
| B．Savage didn’t owe the doctor his life. |
| C．The doctor was grateful for the books. |
| D．The doctor had to accept the two books. |
【推荐2】Like many Kenyans who try their hands at something earning them some extra income, Robina Bosibori and her husband had tried raising chickens in their courtyard. When they started keeping the chickens two years ago, they had hoped they would multiply, allowing them to sell eggs and chickens to their neighbors. However, with the couple being working parents, the chickens did not get the attention they deserved and at the beginning of this year, they only had 10 chickens.
Luckily, their fortunes began to change after the novel coronavirus pandemic(新冠疫情) struck and schools were closed. Not wanting the children to spend the whole day watching television, Bosibori started allocating them duties around the house and noticed that her daughter Ashleigh had developed great interest in the chickens.
Since the chickens were not doing so well at the time, Ashleigh would get emotional if any chicken died. She decided to dedicate her time to improving the conditions they were living in. She gave them water and food regularly. She also asked her parents to have the sick chickens treated. By the time she started paying attention to the chickens, there were only eight of them. But currently, the family have almost 100 chicks and chickens.
According to Ashleigh, she faced challenges at the beginning because the chickens kept falling ill and dying. In addition, the hen house was old and uncomfortable for the chickens and eggs together. She made her parents realize that the old house would waste a lot of chicken feed. Therefore, they decided to invest in a new and bigger hen house in the hope of offering better conditions for the chickens.
By spending time with the chickens, Ashleigh developed a bond with them. She believed that she had learned a lot by taking care of the chickens and the interest would carry on even after schools were reopened.
1. Why did the chickens keep dying at the beginning?| A．They were not properly attended. | B．The pandemic struck suddenly. |
| C．A new hen house was constructed. | D．Ashleigh was interested in chickens. |
| A．She spent the whole day watching TV. | B．She allocated duties around the house. |
| C．She took care of the chickens carefully. | D．She developed a bond with her brothers. |
| A．It stopped the sick chickens from being treated. |
| B．It separated hens from their eggs and chickens. |
| C．It provided better conditions for the chickens. |
| D．It wasted chicken feed and was uncomfortable. |
| A．East or west, home is the best. | B．Hard work pays off in the end. |
| C．Where there’s life, there’s hope. | D．Education is the key to success. |
Before the trip, I’d had my car fixed. When the office employee of the garage was writing up the bill, she noticed my Louisiana license plate. “You from New Orleans?” she asked. I said I was, “No charge.” She said, and firmly shook her head when I reached for my wallet. The next day I went for a haircut, and the same thing happened.
As my wife was studying in Florida, we decided to move there and tried to find a rental house that we could afford while also paying off a mortgage (抵押贷款) on our ruined house. We looked at many places, but none was satisfactory. We’d begun to accept that we’d have to live in extremely reduced circumstances for a while, when I got a very curious e-mail from a James Kennedy in California. He’d read some pieces I’d written about our sufferings for Slate, the online magazine and wanted to give us (“no conditions attached”) a new house across the lake from New Orleans.
It sounded too good to be true, but I replied, thanking him for his exceptional generosity, that we had no places to go back. Then a poet at the University of Florida offered to rent his house to me while he went to England on his one-year-paid leave. The rent was rather reasonable. I mentioned the poet’s offer to James Kennedy, and the next day he sent a check covering our entire rent for eight months.
Throughout this painful experience, the kindness of strangers has done much to bring back my faith in humanity. It’s almost worth losing your worldly possessions to be reminded that people are really nice when given half a chance.
1. The garage employee’s attitude toward the author was that of ________.
| A．unconcern | B．sympathy |
| C．doubt | D．tolerance |
| A．He was a writer of an online magazine. |
| B．He was a poet at the University of Florida. |
| C．He learned about the author’s sufferings via e-mail. |
| D．He offered the author a new house free of charge. |
| A．the author’s family was in financial difficulty |
| B．rents were comparatively reasonable despite the disaster |
| C．houses were difficult to find in the hurricane-stricken area |
| D．the mortgage on the ruined house was paid off by the bank |
| A．was located in the University of Florida |
| B．was offered by a poet and the rent was expensive |
| C．was sponsored by James Kennedy with its 8-month rent |
| D．was well-equipped but the rent was low |
| A．worldly possessions can be given up when necessary |
| B．generosity should be encouraged in some cases |
| C．people benefit from their sad stories |
| D．human beings are kind after all |
【推荐1】Dolphin （海豚） or not a dolphin? That is the question! You see, there are several types of dolphins. Some are saltwater dolphins while others are river dolphins.
"What are the 32 types of dolphins?" When people are asking the question, they are actually referring to the saltwater dolphins in oceans and seas. The river dolphins living in fresh water, are not included in these species （ 物种）. But what would be the answer in this case if we ask,
"Dolphin or not a dolphin?" The answer would obviously be yes. River dolphins still belong to the dolphin family.
Among the 32 types of dolphins, some do not actually wear the word "dolphin" in their names, such as the tucuxi, while others actually have the word "whale" as part of their names even if they are not whales but in fact, belong to the dolphin family, for example, the melon-headed whale and the killer whale. So what would be the answer to the question "dolphin or not a dolphin?" in these cases? It would be yes. All these species do belong to the dolphin family.
Another question that people ask is, "Are the sea animals that perform at aquariums （水族馆） all dolphins?" So, it always seems to come back to the question, "Dolphin or not a dolphin?" Well the answer is no in this case. The sea animals that perform there are not all dolphins. The beluga which people tend to think belong to the dolphin family because they show what seems like a smile, like most dolphins, are in fact a species of the whale family.
Now that you read these facts about dolphins, you probably realize that certain sea animals may appear to be part of the dolphin species and that others seem to be part of the whale family, but in either case, it is not obvious and can be surprising when you identify a sea animal as being a dolphin or not a dolphin. That is the question!
1. Which of the following actually belongs to the whale family?| A．The tucuxi. | B．The beluga. |
| C．The killer whale. | D．The melon-headed whale. |
| A．They perform for audience. | B．They appear friendly. |
| C．They look like whales. | D．They live in fresh water. |
| A．The living area. | B．Dolphin training. |
| C．The eating habits. | D．Further identification. |
| A．popular science | B．literary fiction |
| C．a news report | D．a travel diary |
【推荐2】Public transport is declining in the rich world. To those who have to squeeze onto the number 25 bus in London, or the A train in New York, the change might not be noticeable. But public transport is becoming less busy in those places, and passenger numbers are flat or falling in almost every American city despite healthy growth in urban populations and employment.
Although transport agencies blame their unpopularity on things like roadworks and broken signals, it seems more likely that they are being outcompeted. App-based taxi services like Uber and Lyft are more comfortable and convenient than trains or buses. Cycling is nicer than it was, and rental bikes are more widely available. Cars are cheap to buy, thanks to cut-rate loans, and ever cheaper to run. Online shopping, home working and office-sharing mean more people can avoid travelling altogether.
The competition is only likely to grow. More than one laboratory is developing new transport technologies and applications. Silicon Valley invented Uber and, more recently, apps that let people rent electric scooters(滑板车) and then abandon them on the pavement. China created sharing-bicycles and battery-powered "e-bikes", both of which are spreading.
Transport agencies should accept the upstarts(新兴方式), and copy them. Cities tend either to ignore app-based services or to try to push them off the streets. That is understandable, given the rules-are-for-losers attitude of firms like Uber. But it is an error.
It is doubtful that most people make hard distinctions between public and private transport. They just want to get somewhere, and there is a cost in time, money and comfort. An ideal system would let them move across a city for a single payment, transferring from trains to taxis to bicycles as needed. Building a platform to allow that is hard, and requires much effort of traditional networks as well as technology firms. It is probably the secret to keeping cities moving.
1. What is the change in public transport in big cities?| A．It is becoming busier. |
| B．It is getting less popular. |
| C．There are fewer traffic delays. |
| D．There is more new transport. |
| A．there are roadworks and broken signals. |
| B．people are becoming healthier and employed. |
| C．cars and bikes are more and more available. |
| D．transport agencies are seemingly less competitive. |
| A．By giving examples |
| B．By providing research results |
| C．By stating arguments |
| D．By comparing different approaches |
| A．to develop an ideal system that satisfies everyone. |
| B．to provide people with more means of transportation. |
| C．to build a good platform that appeals to transport agencies. |
| D．to make traditional networks and technology firms cooperate. |
【推荐3】These Children’s Books Written by Celebrities(名人) Are Perfect for Your Little Kids
Kelly Clarkson Wrote a Book Inspired by Her Daughter
When Kelly Clarkson wrote River Rose and the Magical Lullaby, she named the main character after her young daughter. The story follows Rose, who finds herself in a magical dream world, guided by the voice of her mother. Writing the book offered the American Idol winner a new challenge. She said, “It’s so helpful with learning.”
Jim Carrey Is on a Roll with This Book
Jim Carrey’s 2013 book, How Roland Rolls, however, is very much for the little ones. The winner of the 2013 Gelett Burgess Children’s Book Award, How Roland Rolls is about a wave who worries about what will happen when he finally hits the beach. His fear disappears when he realizes he’s more than just a wave, but he’s the entire ocean! Coming up, this horror film star isn’t trying to scare(使害怕) any kids with her book.
Jamie Lee Curtis Has Been Writing Since the 1990s
You might know her best from the Halloween series movie. This Is Me is a story about immigration(外来移民). Curtis says she has no political intentions with her book, saying, “Every person has an immigrant story about their ancestors, and we’re losing that. I thought it was important to connect that thread back to who we are.”
Steve Martin’s Books Prove He’s a Comedian for All Ages
You may have ever read one of his books, like Shopgirl. If you’re a fan of his and you have kids, you’ll be happy to know that now your kids can read his books, too. Since getting into children’ literature, Martin has written and published several books, including Late for School and The Alphabet From A to Y with Bonus Letter Z. Each letter of the alphabet is paired with a poem by Marin.
1. Which book describes a character that is not a human being?| A．This Is Me. | B．Late for School. |
| C．How Roland Rolls. | D．River Rose and the Magical Lullaby. |
| A．Their roots. | B．Their dreams. | C．Their children. | D．Their school life. |
| A．Jim Carrey. | B．Steve Martin. | C．Kelly Clarkson. | D．Jamie Lee Curtis. |
