On Friday, June 20th, 29 dogs along with their owners came to Santa Rosa, California. They came there to take part in an unusual competition--- one that seeks out and honors the World's Ugliest Dog. Now in its 26th year, the competition is one of the biggest attractions at the annual Sonoma County Fair.
Among the leading competitors were Cupcake, who was adopted(收养)from a local dog rescue center in January, and Shorty, who would have been put to sleep if its owner, Jason, wasn't kind enough to pick it up. Also competing was 11-year-old veteran Grovie. Described by his owner as short and funny, the Chinese pug is a local resident who has taken part in this contest several times. Then there was the 2002 “World's Ugliest Dog” and “Ring of Champions” winner, Rascal. The 7lbs naturally hairless dog with very few teeth comes from an impressive background. His grandfather, Chi Chi, has held the Guinness World Record for winning the title “World's Ugliest Dog” seven times!
But all these impressively “ugly” dogs had no chance against Peanut. The two-year-old dog was badly burnt in a fire which caused him to lose his lips, most of his body hair and eyelids. Besides winning the title, $ 1,500 in cash and a large trophy (奖杯)the first-time winner also enjoyed an all — expenses — paid trip to New York City where he made scheduled appearances on Today Show and Jimmy Kimmel Show.
The competition is a great way to honor these dogs, many of whom get their unusual look because of human abuse(虐待). But most importantly, it shows the world that ugliness does not prevent dogs from becoming very loving pets.
1. Who could take part in the competition?| A．Dog owners having ugly dogs. | B．People willing to adopt dogs. |
| C．Dogs with unusual skills. | D．Dogs with ugly look. |
| A．Because he didn't want Shorty to be killed. |
| B．Because Shorty looked so cute and funny. |
| C．Because he wanted Shorty to take part in the competition. |
| D．Because no rescue center would like to adopt Shorty. |
| A．Rascal. | B．Peanut. | C．Cupcake. | D．Grovie. |
| A．To call on people not to kill ugly dogs. | B．To tell people ugly dogs are worth loving. |
| C．To show the way to deal with ugly dogs. | D．To honor unusual dogs and their owners. |
相似题推荐
【推荐1】We’ re searching for women aged 18-34 working to achieve success in their chosen field and make the world better. This is a chance to highlight your work and win a prize pool worth more than $ 100 ,000. Six finalists will be flown to Sydney to attend the Women of the Future event to be held later in the year, and the overall winner will receive:
●A$ 40,000 investment(投资)in a 12 Month Term Account with La Trobe Financial.
●A full-page advertisement in The Australian Women’s Weekly and Marie Claire to promote(促进)her cause.
●Additional exposure and support for her cause in Marie Claire.
To enter, tell us in 250 words or less about yourself and how you would use the prize toachieve your dreams and benefit others. Full terms and conditions are available at https://www. aremedia. com. au/com petitions/.
The nomination(提名)stage begins on June 16, 2023 and closes on July 22, 2023 at 11:59 pm. There are two stages of the awards, nomination stage and winner determined. These awards are only open to female Australian residents between 18 and 34 years of age as of June 16, 2023. Participants(参赛者)must be able to travel to Sydney on the date of the event, October 5, 2023. One entry permitted per person/group. This is a game of skill not :chance. The promoter is Are Media Pty Limited(ABN 18 053 273 546).
1. Who would most probably attend the event?| A．A woman, 23, USA. | B．A woman, 31, China. |
| C．A girl, 18, Australia. | D．A graduate, 22, Japan. |
| A．A $ 140,000 prize. |
| B．An opportunity of promoting her cause. |
| C．Making friends with the last overall winner. |
| D．A chance of being the cover person of Marie Claire. |
| A．The judges of the event. | B．The fields participants can choose. |
| C．The number of the participants. | D．The closing date of nomination. |
【推荐2】The Sony World Photography Awards is the leading competition for photographers. It is made up of the following competitions, that is, Professional, Open, Student and Youth competitions.
For this year’s Youth Competition, we’re asking you to show us Your Everyday. What does your day-to-day life look like? What are the people around you like? What scenes do you see-busy streets or beautiful landscapes? Whatever the style, technique or subject matter, we want to share your unique view of the world!
RULES
·The competition runs from 1 June 2022 to 6 January 2023
·Free to enter and open to photographers under 19
·Photographers can enter up to three photos taken in 2022
·Judges will select a shortlist (决选名单) of up to 10 photographers
·The overall winner on the shortlist will receive Youth Photographer of the Year title
PRIZES
| OVERALL WINNER | SHORTLIST—UP TO 10 | |
| Sony digital imaging equipment | √ | |
| Certificate (证书) | √ | |
| Shown to the global media | √ | √ |
| Inclusion in our exhibition | √ | |
| Promoted on our website | √ | √ |
| Promoted in our online community | √ | √ |
| A．1. | B．2. | C．3. | D．4. |
| A．In 2022. | B．In 2023. |
| C．After 1 June 2022. | D．Before 6 January 2023. |
| A．Sony digital imaging equipment. |
| B．Introduction to the media worldwide. |
| C．Promotion on the organizer’s website. |
| D．Advertisement in the organizer’s online community. |
【推荐3】A 99-year-old Australian swimmer appears to have broken a world record for his age group in the 50m freestyle. The likely new world record holder, George Corones, clocked 56. 12 seconds at an official event in Queensland—a new benchmark for the 100 — 104 age category. He faded the previous record of 1:31. 19, which was set by British swimmer John Harrison in 2014, by 35 seconds. It will now be affirmed by the sport’s governing body.
Corones, who is quailed for the record because he turns 100 in April, said he was “quite delighted” and “over the world” by the result. He said he had been overwhelmed by the “roaring” crowd on the Gold Coast on Wednesday. The event, in which he was the only entrant, had been specially staged for him to challenge the record.
Corones was a keen swimmer in his youth but only began to learn swimming again at the age of 80. He gave it up at the beginning of the World War Ⅱ, and he didn’t think he would have a swim of any description until he retired. Then he started swimming again for exercise.
Racing undeniably challenged him physically, but it was manageable with preparation. On average he swims three times a week, and also fits in gym sessions. “At this age it takes a while to get going...you get tired much more easily, but if you do it properly, the rewards are astronomical,” he said.
Corones will challenge the 100m freestyle record on Saturday night, believing he can beat the current mark of 03:23. 10, which was also set by Harrison.
“I’m not a young man by any means, but I am really looking forward to it and confident I can do it very well, ” he said
1. What is the author’s purpose of writing Paragraph 1?| A．To show who John Harrison is. | B．To explain the reason for writing the text. |
| C．To emphasize the importance of age. | D．To introduce the topic of the text. |
| A．Original. | B．Huge. | C．Brief. | D．Illegal. |
| A．Challenge Harrison again. | B．Prepare for his 100th birthday party. |
| C．Celebrate his success. | D．Give up challenging. |
| A．It’s never too late to learn. | B．He who laughs last laughs best. |
| C．One good turn deserves another. | D．Laziness in youth spells regret in old age. |
【推荐1】Tony Newton and his wife Marie have spent about 40 years turning their modest (简朴的) yard in the Black Country into what is now named the “four seasons’ garden”.
Grandmother-of-four Marie, 72, started looking after the garden in 1982 while working as a transport planner and a nurse while Tony, 70, joined her after he retired (退休) from medicine.
Marie said, “Tony and I usually spend two hours a day in the garden but obviously since lockdown and the fact that we are over 70 means we have even more time to spare. We are sometimes in the garden all day and only come in when it gets dark.”
“One addition this year was that we put up three bird feeding stations, which we haven’t normally had, and that has given us a huge amount of pleasure,” she added. “We’ve got so many different types of birds coming out.”
“We really miss the grandchildren because they used to love playing here,” she said, though they keep in contact through the Internet. “We’ve got fairy (精灵) houses and the streams they played in. We used to look after them a few nights a week but that’s all stopped.”
“I always look forward to spring and this year has been especially rewarding. I have never seen the garden look so beautiful,” Marie added. “We haven’t been able to count every flower and tree but there are over 3,000 plants in the garden. It has been very satisfying to use so many skills, and to have done everything ourselves.”
The couple have won several awards, including being named the winner of Britain’s Best Garden. The garden has become so popular that it even features in unofficial tourist trails (路线) of the Black Country.
Tony said, “There has been a lot of trial and error (反复试验) to get the garden the way it is now — and over the last few weeks we’ve really been able to explore even more ideas. We’re already planning what to grow for the next season.”
1. What do we know about Marie?| A．She has five grandchildren. | B．She worked as a nurse until 1982. |
| C．She started tending the garden in her 30s. | D．She is two years younger than Tony. |
| A．Bird feeding stations. | B．Fairy houses. |
| C．Streams. | D．Grandchildren’s birds. |
| A．Surprised | B．Proud. | C．Scientific. | D．Professional. |
| A．Grow more plants. | B．Open their garden. |
| C．Explore the Black Country. | D．Enter a garden competition. |
【推荐2】This is a story between a woman and a tree in America.
Julia Hill was born in 1974. As she grew up, she realized it was important to protect trees At the age of 23, she heard some bad news one day. A company wanted to cut down part of forest in California. In the forest there was a 1, 000-year-old redwood tree, which was 70 metres tall! Julia wasn’t happy about this. She thought, “If I sit in the redwood tree, the company can’t cut it down. ”
So she traveled to California to protect the redwood tree. In order to stop the company, Julia climbed up the redwood tree, built a small treehouse and lived in it. Her friends cooked food for her every day. Many news reporters came to interview her. Julia talked to those reporters by mobile phone.
Many people supported Julia, but other people were not on her side. They tried to stop her. The company used a helicopter to fly around her treehouse. It made a lot of noise and brought strong wind. But nothing could stop Julia. She stayed in the redwood tree for two years and eight days.
In the end, Julia was successful. The company agreed not to cut down the redwood tree Julia and her friends became very happy.
1. Where did the story happen?| A．In England. |
| B．In Canada. |
| C．In Australia. |
| D．In America. |
| A．To make a speech on TV. |
| B．To visit her friends. |
| C．To protect the redwood tree. |
| D．To have a meeting. |
| A．by e-mail. |
| B．over the radio. |
| C．on the Internet. |
| D．by mobile phone. |
| A．A Woman and a House. |
| B．A Woman and a Tree. |
| C．A Woman and a Phone. |
| D．A Woman and a Helicopter. |
【推荐3】Choose Native Plants for Your Garden
Jessica Damiano moved into a new home in the spring of 2005. A month later, she was delighted to see a flowering plant start to grow.
Two years later, Damiano graduated from Cornell University’s master gardener program. She worked as a gardening writer for a local newspaper.
Then she learned more. Some plants known to be invasive are what Damiano calls “wolves in sheep’s clothing”. This means they may seem harmless and well-contained in the garden but become harmful in other places.
If not controlled, invasive plants grow larger and push out native plants that provide food and shelter for birds, insects, and small animals. This harms the local environment.
Many state environmental agencies don’t allow the sale and use of plants found to be harmful to human or ecological(生态的) health. But some invasive plants are not officially considered invasive.
So, what should a gardener do?
Damiano says gardeners should avoid any plants sold as “fast-spreading” “quick-climbing” or a “rapid self-sower”. She warns that these are all sellers’ key words for invasive plants.
Next, learn about your local area. Which plants are invasive? And which plants are native? Ask government agencies and environmental groups.
| A．But that did not matter to her. |
| B．That is when she found out the truth. |
| C．It destroys food and habitat for fish and water birds. |
| D．You can also do your own study at libraries or online. |
| E．She did not know the name of the beautiful purple plant. |
| F．Others may be listed as invasive in one area but not another. |
| G．Birds eat the seeds of invasive plants and spread them to other places. |
【推荐1】Located off the coast of Croatia, in the Adriatic Sea, Baljenac is a tiny island covered by a series of dry-stone walls that make it look like a giant fingerprint when seen from above.
The oval-shaped island of Baljenac is covered by a 23-kilometer-long network of dry-stone walls. You’d think it was an ancient labyrinth(迷官),if not for the fact that the walls are about waist high and designed only to make agriculture easier in an unfriendly place. The rocky land and strong winds aren’t exactly perfect for the growth of plants, so the natives of the nearby island of Kaprije built these stone walls to separate their crops and offer them some protection. It’s a technique used in other parts of Europe, like England or Ireland, but nowhere else do these walls copy the pattern of a human fingerprint as they do on Baljenac Island.
The uninhabited island has a surface of only 0.14 square kilometers but features 23 kilometers of walls created simply by piling rocks on top of each other. The same type of walls are used on Kaprije and Zut, but Baljenac has by far the highest concentration by surface area.
Most of the stone wall network is believed to have been built during the 19th century, but both Baljenac and Kaprije served as safe shelters for Christians during the Ottoman conquests (征服)of the 16th and 17th centuries ,so some parts of the wall could be even older.
Ever since aerial photos of Baljenac started spreading on the Internet, the popularity of the fingerprint island has grown considerably as has tourist presence in the area. Although locals welcome visitors, some worry about the damage suffered by the walls at the hands of ill-mannered tourists.
The Croatian government has requested that UNESCO include this island in its list of world heritage sites, which will not only boost its popularity even more but also guarantee Baljenac higher protection from the local authorities.
1. Why were the dry-stone walls built on Baljenac?| A．To protect crops from animal attacks. | B．To make it easier to grow crops. |
| C．To attract tourists to the island. | D．To serve as a cultural symbol. |
| A．The strong winds from the sea. | B．The lack of protection from UNESCO. |
| C．The collapse of the stone walls. | D．The damage done to the walls by tourists. |
| A．To introduce a famous fingerprint island. |
| B．To make an advertisement for a special island. |
| C．To find out the secret of the fingerprint island. |
| D．To call on people to protect the stone walls on Baljenac. |
| A．A travel website. | B．A science report. |
| C．A history book. | D．A financial magazine. |
【推荐2】Many centuries ago, all people had to gather seeds and plants to eat. They did not know how to farm or raise animals for food. We call them the Stone Age people because they used stone tools and weapons.
You may feel surprised in the world today there are still people who live like the Stone Age people. They live in the places that are hard to reach. Because they have met few people from the outside world, they don’t know about modern inventions. They have not learned ways of doing things from others.
For 25,000 years, groups of people have lived alone in the middle of Australia. One of these groups is the Arunta tribe (部落). They do not know how to farm and how to raise sheep or cattle.
The Aruntas spend most of their time searching for food and water. The men hunt animals with stone-tipped spears. The women and children look for roots, seeds and nuts. They use sticks to dig up the roots. Several Arunta families live together. They have no house. At night, they sleep around small fires.
Now other people are moving into the center of Australia. Soon the Aruntas will no longer be a Stone Age people.
1. The Stone Age people are called so because they ____.| A．gathered seeds and plants to eat | B．didn’t know how to farm |
| C．used stone tools and weapons | D．didn’t raise animals for food |
| A．in the middle of Africa | B．in the center of Australia |
| C．together with other people | D．in poorly built houses |
| A．Because they have not yet learned new ways from other people. |
| B．Because they do not want to change their way of living. |
| C．Because other people are moving in and living with the Aruntas. |
| D．Because each family live alone without knowing others. |
| A．the Australians live much like the Stone Age people |
| B．the Arunta tribe has a history of 25 centuries |
| C．the Stone Age people have at last disappeared in the world |
| D．the Aruntas will change their way of living sooner or later |
【推荐3】The following list of books centers on joyful African-American children. Each title can provide a unique reading experience for your family's storytime.
A Girl Like Me, written by Angela Johnson, illustrated(插图)by Nina Crews
Not many children's books feature contemporary photographs of ordinary children doing ordinary things. This book shows a diverse group of girls dreaming, laughing, playing, and being themselves.
Jayden's Impossible Garden, written by Melina Mangal, illustrated by Ken Daley
In this colorful tale about two nature enthusiasts, children will get inspired to create their own city gardens. Young Jayden and his older neighbor Curtis, who is in a wheelchair, come together in their deep love of observing nature. Their enthusiasm is the motivation for their special project of creating a magical garden that brings joy and wonder to skeptical family members and neighbors.
Saturday, written and illustrated by Oge Mora
In this mother-daughter story, Saturday plans go wrong one after the other and almost ruin Ava and her mother's special day together. Yet Ava and her mother are able to remain peaceful and joyful on their precious Saturday.
The Thing About Bees:A Love Letter, written and illustrated by Shabazz Larkin
This is a joyful book that describes bees and their benefits. Yet it is much more than ordinary non-fiction because the bee facts described through rhyming text become fathers' favorite shared with their sons. Energetic illustrations strengthen this father-son story that is heart-warming, humorous, educational and inspiring.
1. What do we know about Jayden?| A．He's doubtful about everything. | B．He likes reading fairy tales. |
| C．He creates a garden for Curtis. | D．He's full of curiosity about nature. |
| A．The Thing About Bees:A Love Letter. | B．Saturday. |
| C．Jayden's Impossible Garden. | D．A Girl Like Me. |
| A．They are set in the countryside. | B．They are picture-books for children. |
| C．They are written by African authors. | D．They are about family relationships. |
