The British are known for their sense of humor. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to understand their jokes. The main point to remember is that the British often use understatement.
Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone gets very wet in a shower of rain, he might say, “It's a little damp outside.” Or, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, “She isn't exactly friendly.” Understatement is often used in unpleasant situation or to make another person look silly. Understatement plays an important part in British humor.
Another key to understanding British humor is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. They often laugh about the silly and unpleasant things that happen to our everyday life when someone accidentally falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes about people from different classes of society. They like to make jokes about their accents, the way they dress and the way they behave. What's more, the British love to watch comedies about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedies series Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humor.
Mr. Bean is the character created by British actor Rowan Atkinson in 1990. Mr. Bean doesn't talk often, and instead he uses his body movement and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world cannot do. Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because you do not have to speak English to understand the humor. Because of this, many people have become familiar with the British sense of humor.
1. Why is it difficult for foreigners to understand British jokes?| A．The British often use overstatement. |
| B．The British try to understate something. |
| C．British jokes are not as funny as jokes in other countries. |
| D．British jokes are connected with many different cultures. |
| A．describing a process | B．making comparisons |
| C．following time order | D．using examples |
| A．using his body movement and facial expressions |
| B．making jokes about others’ accent |
| C．copying how others behave |
| D．telling funny stories |
| A．British Humor in Comedy | B．Humor in Different Cultures |
| C．Understanding British Humor | D．Developing Your Sense of Humor |
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【推荐1】The power of languages
Language is the primary tool for expression and communication. It is a so magical thing that sometimes it will make people fall into abyss and another time it will make people in the sky.
Scholars manage to determine what is unique and universal about the languages we use how they are acquired and how they change over time.
The followings represent some of the ways scholars have investigated many aspects of languages.
One study showed that a relatively harmless sentence, such as "girls are as good as boys at math", can show a deeper meaning. Because of the statement's grammatical structure, it implies that being good at math is more common for boys than girls, the researchers said.
Languages' uniqueness
People speak roughly 7,000 languages worldwide.
Languages as a lens (镜头) into behavior
Scholars analyze how certain speech patterns correspond to particular behaviors, including how languages can impact people's buying decisions or influence their social media use.
| A．Deeper meanings of languages |
| B．Grammatical structure's function of languages |
| C．Languages have different speech patterns and different behaviors. |
| D．Although there is a lot in common among languages, each one is unique |
| E．They consider languages as a cultural, social and psychological phenomenon. |
| F．They found that different languages have different influences on making some decisions. |
| G．Studying how people use languages can help us better understand ourselves and why we behave the way we do. |
【推荐2】Nobody is sure where and when the expression “apple-pie order” began. Some say that Scottish and English writers used the expression a long time ago. Others say it was first used in the northeastern American states known as New England. The housewives of New England cut their apples in even slices. Then they filled pie pans with them in an organized way, row upon row. As one writer said, the women of New England loved to have everything in its place. This perhaps explains why it generally is believed that the expression “apple-pie order” began in New England.
Another old expression, “apple of discord”, comes from ancient mythology(神话), however. The myth says that all the gods and goddesses were sitting around the table to celebrate the marriage of Thetis and Peleus. One of the goddesses-Discord was a troublemaker. She threw away a golden apple on the table to be given as a prize to the most beautiful goddess.
At one time, the tomato was called a love apple. That was a mistake. This is how the mistake happened: In the sixteenth century, Spain brought the tomato from South America after Spanish explorers had landed there. Spain then sold the tomato to Morocco. Italian traders carried it on to Italy. The Italian name for the tomato was “pomo di Moro” meant “d’amour” -the French word for love. And so “pomo di Moro” became the apple of love.
People believe many things about the apple. One belief is that it has great powers of keeping people healthy. A very common expression is "an apple a day keeps the doctor away."
Another belief is based on fact. The expression is "one rotten apple spoils the barrel." When an apple begins to go bad, it ruins all the other apples around it in the container. The expression has come to mean that one bad person in a group can cause everyone to act bad.
1. Which of the following can we know about the phrase “apple-pie order”?| A．No one knows for sure where and when it began |
| B．It has been put into use recently |
| C．Everyone is sure of where it began |
| D．It began in New England |
| A．Everything in good order | B．Situation of danger |
| C．Everything in agreement | D．Cause of disagreement |
| A．To show us a mistaken idea |
| B．To explain how the tomato was called the apple of love |
| C．To tell us a love story about apple |
| D．To show how the tomato was brought in from south America |
| A．Apple of discord |
| B．Apple-pie order |
| C．An apple a day keeps the doctor away |
| D．One rotten apple spoils the barrel |
【推荐3】International Languages Week is an annual event held in New Zealand to promote language and culture from around the world. Learning an international language involves much more than language proficiency( 熟练). Knowing an international language means knowing about the culture that is the foundation of that language. Take advantage of International Languages Week now.
Use your students as teachers. There is a high chance that you will have some students who can speak languages other than English in your school.
Celebrate the cultural diversity in your school.
Create a language resource. Develop a language resource for your school or local community.
| A．Make connections with your community. |
| B．Connect with a class in an overseas country. |
| C．And here are some ideas for classroom programs. |
| D．It can be simple vocabulary cards to help students learn new words. |
| E．Consider what understandings are gained by learning a new language. |
| F．Hold an event where the multiculturalism of your school is celebrated. |
| G．Encourage the students to be experts during International Languages Week. |
【推荐1】There is an English saying, “Laughter is the best medicine.” Until recently, few people took the saying seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body. They have found that laughter can really improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart beating and breathing; it also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach, and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be beneficial.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effects of pain on the body. In one experiment, doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group that tolerated the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which decrease both stress and pain.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter.
1. We learn from the first paragraph that laughter______.| A．is good for one’s health | B．is related to some illness |
| C．has been investigated | D．has no effect on the body |
| A．It reduces pain. | B．It exercises the body. |
| C．It reduces stress. | D．It can cure cancer. |
| A．laugh at their patients | B．encourage their patients to laugh |
| C．smile when they don’t feel like laughing | D．never stop laughing |
| A．Critical. | B．Doubtful. | C．Positive. | D．Negative. |
【推荐2】We have long imagined a world where we interact with computers and robots as if they were normal human beings. Science movies show computers and robots that think and feel just like humans. While these scenes exist only in the movies for now, we may be getting close to making technology emotionally intelligent.
The first step toward this is understanding what emotions are, Scientists are often unable to describe emotions in exact terms, even though we generally understand what people mean when they say they’re sad or happy.
Back in the 1950s, few scientists studied emotion. But American scientist Paul Ekman saw a lot of potential in this field. He began analyzing facial expressions, and gathered a list of over 5,000 muscle movements. These muscle movements combine to form our different expressions. His discovery of micro-expression—facial expressions that last only less than a second—allows us to read the emotions that people try to hide.
There are many possible uses of emotion-sensing technology. Dr. Chieko Asakawa, a researcher at IBM, has been blind since the age of 14. She has been developing a smartphone app that might be able to help people with disabilities. It recognizes people’s faces and facial expressions as they approach.
Another use of emotion-sensing technology can be shown through human-shaped robots like Pepper. It can comfort someone when it senses the person is sad, or tell a joke when the person is feeling playful. In Japan, Pepper is already serving customers in stores.
But as we walk on the streets, intelligent devices(设备)could record our facial expressions without our knowledge. This could allow many people to monitor(监视)or view our feelings without our permission. It may leave us with no control over who we share our feelings with. However, if we can deal with these challenges successfully, there could be many benefits for all of us if our devices become a little more human.
1. How did Ekman carry out the study?| A．By doing medical examinations. | B．By analyzing various robots. |
| C．By building new software. | D．By studying facial muscles. |
| A．To present how IBM benefits from technology. | B．To describe the limitation of a new technology. |
| C．To show the value of Ekman’s work. | D．To praise what she has done. |
| A．They may create some problems. | B．They can take the place of humans. |
| C．They are of great benefit to humans. | D．They are useless in solving real problems. |
| A．Understanding other people’s emotions | B．New devices for the disabled |
| C．Robots that think like humans | D．Emotions in technology |
【推荐3】Scientists say baby sharks are at risk of being born smaller and without the energy they need to survive because of warming oceans from climate change.
Scientists studied epaulette sharks, which live off Australia and New Guinea. They found that warmer conditions sped up the sharks growing process. That meant the sharks were born earlier and very tired. The findings could be used in the study of other sharks, including those that give birth to live young.
The scientists studied 27 sharks. Some were raised in average summer water temperatures, about 27 degrees Celsius. Others were raised in higher temperatures around 29 degrees Celsius and 31 degrees Celsius. They found that the sharks raised in the warmest temperatures weighed much less than those raised in average temperatures. They also showed reduced energy levels.
Epaulette sharks can grow to a length of about one meter. Their name comes from large spots on their bodies that look like decorations on some military clothing.
One study this year found that worldwide numbers of oceanic sharks and rays dropped more than 70 percent between1970 and 2018. Overfishing is a main concern,while climate change and pollution also threaten sharks.
Carolyn Wheeler is a doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts Boston and with the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University in Australia. She is the lead author of the epaulette shark study. She said that while all the sharks survived, those raised in warmer temperatures were not strong enough survive for long in the wild.
She added that if the sharks are born smaller than usual, they are probably going to have to start looking for food sooner — and they’re going to have less time to adjust to their surroundings.
The study should serve as a warning to ocean governing agencies that careful management is needed to prevent the loss of more sharks.
1. Why are they called epaulette sharks?| A．Because of their shape. |
| B．Because of their living place. |
| C．Because they can grow to a length of about one meter. |
| D．Because the large spots on their bodies that look like decorations on some military clothing. |
| A．Their food. | B．Their body weight. |
| C．Their living habits. | D．Their moving route. |
| A．By studying former data. |
| B．By tracking sharks in the wild. |
| C．By collecting information about climate change. |
| D．By comparing sharks in waters of different temperatures. |
| A．The origin of sharks names. | B．The sharks’ appearance. |
| C．The threats to sharks’ survival. | D．The sharks’ living environment. |
【推荐1】New study shows rapid decline in insect populations. A growing number of the Earth's insect population now can be seen only in collections on exhibitions. Nobody's seen those for 400 years. A new review of over 70 studies of insect populations suggests that human pressures are causing insect populations to plummet by as much as a quarter every decade. The loss of species is inevitably concerning because often we don’t know what those species are doing or we don’t know what other species are depending on them.
Insects make up the largest class of animals on earth and represent more than half of all known living creatures. They are incredibly diverse, and in many ways make life on Earth possible. But when we decrease the number of species, we're destroying ecosystem function. Why does that matter? It is because that it's ecosystems that support humans. But those life-support systems that keep us alive, even if we live in a city, are produced by healthy ecosystems. And none of these ecosystems will run well without insects. Bees and butterflies pollinate(授粉) our food, flowers and trees. They feed all kinds of larger animals, including humans. A large number of crops we eat and rely on are pollinated by insects, so we can’t imagine a world where that pollination process is not taking place.
And there are some cases already around the world where we are having to pollinate by hand, at huge cost, a huge economic cost, simply because the insects aren’t there to do the work that we would normally ask them to do for free. And in some cases, if you’re talking about food crops, just try to imagine the scale of what the world would look like if insects weren't doing that for us. One big warning, all of the studies come from industrialized countries in Europe and North America. In some areas, the decline is even more rapid. According to one recent study, the number of ground insects in Puerto Rico has fallen by 98% over the last 35 years. A growing body of research shows that insects are declining about twice as fast as vertebrates.
The researchers predict that all insect species could be gone in a century in these industrialized countries.
1. What does the underlined word “plummet” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Reduce. | B．Increase. |
| C．Disappear. | D．Raise. |
| A．we can make a big profit by pollinating by hand |
| B．insects have no impact on industrial development |
| C．pollinating by hand can replace pollinating by insects |
| D．insects account for the largest composition in the entire animal kingdom |
| A．Unclear. | B．Concerned. |
| C．Suspicious. | D．Critical. |
| A．using research results | B．making comparisons |
| C．giving some examples | D．telling personal stories |
【推荐2】I remember growing up, my mom always said, “Half the fun of doing anything is sharing it with others.” It is so true. Friends and mates allow us to enjoy our success and our joys, comfort us in our challenging moments, and provide a mirror for us to learn more about ourselves. I’ve always looked at friends as the family we choose. They enrich our lives. As Robert Louis Steven once said, “A friend is a present which you give yourself.”
To be a good friend or partner, it’s important be a good listener. Hear what your friend or mate has to say first rather than jumping to conclusions or getting defensive. Sometimes it is useful to be their mirror, for when they hear their words repeated back to them; it can help them to realize that what they said was not exactly what they meant to say.
Patience, compassion and empathy are also important traits in being a good friend or partner. You know the old golden rule, “Care for others the way you would like them to care for you.”The support of a friend during a tough time could make the difference between success and failure. Encouragement and confidence are priceless gifts that can help change a person’s life.
Take care, though, with whom you choose to have close relationship, for they can have a tremendous impact on your self-esteem and life path. As someone once told me, “the attitude of your friends is like the buttons on an elevator. They will either take you up or down.”
1. In order to make good friends, you should do the following except ______.| A．Be a good listener | B．Be patient, compassionate |
| C．Be careful | D．Be generous to your friends |
| A．Buy your friend a mirror. | B．Point out their mistakes if there is any. |
| C．Give them encouragement and confidence. | D．Pay attention what they do. |
| A．It is different whether you have friends or not. |
| B．The support of friends counts when you have difficulties. |
| C．A friend in need is a friend indeed. |
| D．You are certain to succeed if you get the support of friends. |
| A．It is good to share your fun with other. |
| B．The friend is a mirror for us to learn more about others. |
| C．You’d better be a good listener if you want to be a good friend. |
| D．Be careful to choose your friend. |
【推荐3】Plastic-eating worms
Humans produces more than 30 million tons of plastic each year. Almost half of that winds up in landfills(填埋场) , and up to 12 million tons pollute the oceans. So far there is no effective way to get rid of it, but a new study suggests that an answer may lies in the stomachs of some hungry worms.
Researchers in Spain and England recently found that the worms of the greater wax moth can breakdown polyethylene, which accounts for 40% of plastics. The team left 100waxwormsona commercial polyethylene shopping bag for 12 hours, and the worms consumed and broke down about 92 milligrams, or almost 3%of it. To confirm that the worm's chewing alone was not responsible for the polyethylene breakdown, the researchers made some worms into paste(糊状物) and applied it to plastic films . 14 hours later the films had lost 13%of their mass—apparently broken down by enzymes( 酶 ) from the worms' stomachs. Their findings were published in Current Biology in 2017. Federica Bertocchini, co-author of the study, says the worms' ability to break down their everyday food—beeswax—also allows them to breakdown plastic. “Wax is a complex mixture, but the basic bond in polyethylene, the carbon-carbon bond, is there as well,”she explains, “The wax worm evolved a method or system to break this bond.”
Jennifer Debruyn, a microbiologist at the University di Tennessee, who was not involved in the study, says it is not surprising that such worms can breakdown polyethylene. But compared with previous studies, she finds the speed of breaking down in this one exciting. The next step, Debruyn says, will be to identify the cause of the breakdown. Is it an enzyme produced by the worm itself or by its gut microbes(肠道微生物) ?
Bertocchini agrees and hopes her team's findings might one day help employ the enzyme to breakdown plastics in landfills. But she expects using the chemical in some kind of industrial process—not simply “millions of worms thrown on top of the plastic”.
1. What can we learn about the worms in the study?| A．They take plastics as their everyday food. |
| B．They are newly evolved creatures. |
| C．They can consume plastics. |
| D．They wind up in landfills. |
| A．help to raise worms | B．help make plastic bags |
| C．be used to clean the oceans | D．be produced in factories in future |
| A．To explain a study method on worms. |
| B．To introduce the diet of a special worm. |
| C．To present a way to breakdown plastics. |
| D．To propose new means to keep eco-balance. |
【推荐1】There is an old saying in Chinese: “To do a good job, one must first sharpen one’s tools.” When it comes to photography, however, it’s not exactly the case. In this year’s National Geographic Travel Photo Contest, Greenlandic Winter, a picture by Chinese photographer Chu Weimin, took first place in the cities category and won the overall grand prize as well.
When asked why he chose Upernavik, a small fishing village in Greenland, to take his pictures, Chu described the first time he spotted the village from an airplane. “Through my entire flight, I could only see the land, covered by pure white ice and snow. But I suddenly saw a big, warm dot in the far distance — Upernavik,” he told National Geographic. “The beauty of this tranquil (宁静的) village was beyond my imagination. It was a ‘wow’ moment for me.” This ability to identify a “wow moment” is what makes a good travel photographer.
According to Chu, he was moved by Upernavik’s blue tint at dusk, the warm yellow light from the windows, and the family of three walking along the snowy street. Although he is a professional photographer, many of Chu’s Greenland pictures were shot with his phone.
This attitude echoes that of Austrian-American photographer Ernest Haas (1921-1986). Haas told his students that they were too obsessed with cameras to understand the essence of photography. “The camera doesn’t make a bit of difference,” Haas said. “All of them can record what you are seeing. But you have to SEE.”
Perhaps it’s not just in photography that we’ve put too much emphasis on the role of tools. How many of you are reluctant to start a new sport or learn new software simply because you don’t yet have the “right” outfit (装备) or computer?
It’s true that “sharpened” tools make the work easier, hut as reporter Abhilash Pavuluri wrote on Firstpost: “In the end, it’s really the artist that makes a good painting, not the paintbrush.”
1. What do we know about Chu Weimin?| A．He is better at photographing people than scenery. |
| B．His award-winning picture is set in a peaceful village. |
| C．His shooting style stands out from other photographers. |
| D．He is the first Chinese person to win the National Geographic Photo Contest. |
| A．To explain why Chu’s picture stands out. |
| B．To introduce Chu’s love for Upernavik. |
| C．To recommend a good place for taking photos. |
| D．To describe Chu’s inspiration for the winning picture. |
| A．The ability to find beauty. |
| B．Enthusiasm for photography. |
| C．Having rich parents. |
| D．Owning the best camera equipment. |
| A．glad | B．unwilling |
| C．confident | D．supposed |
【推荐2】About 12 years ago, I began making a series of dolls called “Wee Forest Folk”. At first, I made them from cloth but then began using a kind of polymer clay (软陶) called Cernit. The cloth dolls were beautiful, but it was impossible to get the level of details (细节) I can get with clay.
First, I use wire (金属丝) to build the shape of the doll. Then I cover the head, hands, and feet around the wire by using the Cernit. Then I make the doll's clothes myself, using lots of different materials. The completed dolls are fixed onto hardwood bases made by my father, Jim Logan.
Generally, the dolls show older people taking part in traditional activities. I've always had a great respect for the older generation.
Inspiration for the dolls often comes from people I know. Once I was caught looking too closely at
the wrinkles (皱纹) on the face of one of my mom's friends. But I explained that her laughter lines made her more attractive.
Now I work as a teacher's assistant, and while I was raising my two daughters, Keri and Sheryl, I could work on the dolls only late at night. The girls loved to come downstairs the next morning to see who'd arrived in the night.
It's the detail that I enjoy working on the most. I once made a fisherman doll for a lady to give her father, including a tiny creel — a basket used by fishermen for carrying fish. When the man got the doll, he immediately opened the creel to see what was inside. Luckily, I'd made a small fish out of Cernit and placed it in the basket.
Hopefully my story will inspire others to try their hand at doll making — I find it very relaxing and interesting.
1. The dolls called “Wee Forest Folk” were________．| A．totally handmade |
| B．mainly made of cloth |
| C．usually for small kids |
| D．often designed by the author's father |
| A．To guess her age. |
| B．To get creative ideas. |
| C．To give her a surprise. |
| D．To find out why she was so attractive. |
| A．it takes much effort to make a doll |
| B．it is difficult to satisfy everyone |
| C．the old also love her dolls |
| D．her dolls have fine details |
【推荐3】Com has been a significant part in American food since before European arrival. After the Civil War, grits(粗玉米粉), which are made out of corn, became a diet mainstay(支柱) because water-powered mills turned up. They were relatively inexpensive and could be eaten with almost anything, making it possible for everyone to enjoy.
Grits are usually cooked with water, cream and butter over the course of many hours. There can be varied types of grits from smooth to grainy. There are even instant grits for those without the hours to cook. Worth noting is that sugar is not typically added.
Grits can be served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, but they’re commonly used as a base, usually topped with seafood and a delicious sauce. It’s a dish eaten by everyone from sitting presidents to blue-collar workers in a variety of ways, both in fine dining restaurants and oily spoons.
Shrimp and grits is the most well-known dish incorporating grits, especially in coastal areas like Charleston, South Carolina. It was originally a fisherman’s breakfast, a hearty meal before a long day of work, and today, it’s found on menus throughout the nation.
Chefs have also become creative with the dish, adding modern elements to the traditional. Mashama Bailey has a foie gras(鹅肝酱) and grits dish at The Grey in Savannah, Georgia. Edward Lee has prepared it like the porridge his Korean parents cooked during his growing up, but uses Kentucky’s Wiesenberger grits. Nathalie Dupree has made her career on the dish with her cookbook titled “Shrimp and Grits” , while Virginia Willis has appropriately titled “Grits”.
1. Why did grits become main food?| A．Com played a key role. | B．Dried com was extremely cheap. |
| C．The Civil War broke out. | D．Water-powered mills showed up. |
| A．They are popular among all walks of life. | B．They are smooth to feel. |
| C．They are placed on top of other foods. | D．They are expensive to purchase. |
| A．Grits with Shrimp. | B．Grits with sugar. | C．Grits with butter. | D．Grits with cream. |
| A．To introduce Lee’s upbringing experiences. | B．To promote Lee’s cooking techniques. |
| C．To explain a modern flavor of grits. | D．To advertise a newly-published cookbook. |
