【推荐2】Culture is particularly at risk in an armed conflict or disaster owing to its great symbolic value. At the same time, culture is regarded as a driver of recovery, strengthening the flexibility of a civilized society.

During recent conflicts, cultural relics have not only increasingly suffered from the damage caused by war, but have also become the target（目标） of systematic and deliberate(故意的) attacks because of its high significance in the nations to which it belongs. The destruction of the cultural relics in Palmyra(Syria) and the robbery of the National Museum of Iraq are tragic（悲剧的） examples of an intention to destroy the very cultural identity and break the bonds that bring them together as a society.

Disasters caused by natural and human-made harm including earthquakes, fires, floods and typhoons, also have caused extensive damage to many cultural and natural relics, museums, cultural institutions. The earthquakes in Nepal and Ecuador, the floods in Myanmar, Hurricane Matthew in the Western Atlantic Ocean and the heavy rainfalls following El Niño in Peru have all resulted in a mass of damage.

Culture, however, is not only a victim （受害者）of emergency situations. Immediately after a disaster or an armed conflict, all nations often find cultural relics can work well as material and psychological support. The ability to access one’s cultural attractions — like a religious building, a historic city, an historical relic or a landscape — or to keep a specific cultural practice, may provide a much-needed sense of identity and dignity（尊严）. Moreover after an emergency（紧急情况）, culture can be an engine both to rebuild economies and societies and to promote tolerance, compromise and understanding, easing tensions（紧张） and preventing renewed conflicts. Music, dance, theatre and cinema, for example, have been used to build deeper understanding among people who flee for safety.

This is why protecting culture in emergency situations, and cultural protection from disasters is fundamental to a country’s development and people’ security.

1. Some damaged cultural relics are mentioned in Paragraphs 2 & 3 to ________.

A．To prove emergency situations caused by culture.

B．To show the intense international relationship.

C．To present the terrible situation of culture in an armed conflict or disaster

D．To unfold the disasters and conflicts in the world.

2. What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．Culture plays an important role in restoration.

B．Culture suffers a lot in emergency situations.

C．Lots of cultural relics are rebuilt after a disaster.

D．Culture helps people better understand each other.

3. What can we learn from this passage?

A．Most cultural relics are destroyed by war.

B．Natural disasters seldom contribute to the damage of cultural relics.

C．Music, dance and theatre can also give people a sense of security.

D．Cultural relics can work better than psychological support.

4. What is likely to be talked about after the last paragraph?

A．The fast development of culture.

B．The analysis of the cultural emergency.

C．A specific case of ruined cultural relics.

D．Some measures taken to protect culture.

【推荐3】The Forbidden City is well known for being full of Chinese cultural and historical relics. But Masters in the Forbidden City(《我在故宫修文物》）does not just focus on the stories of the past. Instead, the documentary film, which came out in Chinese cinemas on Dec. 16，focuses on ordinary people—the restorers(做修复工作的人）of relics and antiquities(古董).

The stories are told at a slow and relaxed pace，reflecting the restorers’ work. Restoration of cultural relics and antiques can be time-consuming, and sometimes boring. Yet these restorers’ patience and peace of mind are especially precious in a society where everything is changing so fast.

"If you choose this job，you have to stand hours of work sitting on a chair. You need to be quiet and get used to being quiet," says Wang Jin, an ancient clock repair expert.

A touching part of the documentary is the spirit of craftsmanship(工艺)in the restorers. "Years of humdrum work requires not only skill, but also faith and spirit," China Daily commented. "looking for precision and perfection, devoting yourself to work, patience，endurance (忍耐力),loneliness. All these qualities come from the‘ craftsman spirit’. "

But unlike the popular idea of serious experts who sit around being serious，the documentary shows off the enthusiasm of the restorers. They play their guitars and make jokes about each other after a long day of restoration work.

One scene that has been very popular with Internet users features a young female restorer riding a bicycle through the empty Forbidden City on a Monday. While she is doing this, a narrator says, "The last person to do this was Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing dynasty."

Masters in the Forbidden City has proved many people’ s ideas about antique restorers wrong, allowing them to realize that they are not old, dull professors, but people in their 40s, 30s and even 20s who can be quite pleasing to the eye.

1. According to the text, what’s the main purpose of the documentary Masters in the Forbidden City?

A．To show people how antiques are restored.

B．To draw attention to Chinese antique restorers’ lives.

C．To display relics seldom seen by ordinary people.

D．To praise the craftsmanship of Chinese antique restorers.

2. According to Wang Jin, we can learn that _____ .

A．he often gets tired of his work

B．here is no need to do restoration work fast

C．antique restorers need to be patient and peaceful

D．it takes years of hard work to adapt to antique restoration

3. The underlined word “humdrum” probably means________.

A．unusual

B．different

C．relaxing

D．boring

4. The bicycle-riding scene in the documentary is used to _____ .

A．break the old, dull image of antique restorers

B．show the strange hobbies of young antique restorers

C．encourage the young consider a career in antique restoration in the future

D．remind the audience of the last Qing emperor

【推荐1】Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but there have only been few players who were truly great. How did these players get that way — was it through training and practice, or are great players “born, not made”? First, these players came from places that have had famous stars in the past — players that a young boy can look up to and try to imitate. In the history of soccer, only seven countries have ever won the World Cup — three from South America and four from Western Europe. There has never been a great national team — or a really great player — from North America or from Asia. Second, these players have all had years of practice in the game. Alfredo Di Stefano was the son of a soccer player, as was Pele. Most players begin playing the game at the age of three or four.
Finally, many great players come from the same kind of neighborhood — a poor, crowded area where a boy’s dream is not to be a doctor, lawyer, or businessman, but to become a rich, famous athlete or entertainer. For example, Liverpool, which produced the Beatles, had one of the best English soccer teams in recent years. Pele practiced in the street with a “ball” made of rags. And George Best learned the tricks that made him famous by bouncing the ball off a wall in the slums(贫民窟) of Belfast.
All great players have a lot in common, but that doesn’t explain why they are great. Hundreds of boys played in those Brazilian streets, but only one became Pele. The greatest players are born with some unique quality that sets them apart from all the others.
1. According to the writer, which of the following statements is true?

A．Soccer is popular all over the world, but truly great players are few.

B．Millions of people all over the world are playing soccer, but only seven countries have ever had famous stars.

C．Only seven countries from South America and Western Europe have ever had national teams.

D．Soccer seems the least popular in North America and Asia.

2. The world “tricks” at the end of Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______.

A．experience	B．training
C．skills	D．cheating

3. The Brazilian streets are mentioned to show that ______.

A．a great soccer player may be born in a slum area

B．people in poor areas are born with some unique quality

C．children in poor areas start playing football at the age of three or four

D．famous soccer players live in slum areas

4. The writer mentions all the factors that may affect a soccer player’s success except ______.

A．his family background	B．his neighborhood
C．his character	D．his practice

【推荐2】As the weather gets colder, we start wearing jackets, and most of us stop thinking about the sun. But the sun's rays can be just as harmful when it’s cold and cloudy outside. "Any exposed area of your body can still get sunburned," Dr. Apple A. Bodemer, an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told Live Science.

Whether you spend a day on the slopes or clearing snow out of your driveway, your face is still getting exposed to the sun's radiation in the form of ultraviolet (紫外线)(UV) light, which can go deep into your skin cells, causing DNA damage, according to Bodemer.

The sun's long ultraviolet A (UVA) waves can cause earlier aging and wrinkles, while its shorter ultraviolet B (UVB) rays are known for causing skin reddening and bums.

Skin damage caused by UV exposure increases over time. More exposure to radiation contributes to severer damage, even skin cancer. In addition, snow and ice can also make sun damage worse. They reflect up to 80 percent of UV rays reaching the ground. That means you get heat from both the sky and the ground. And skiers and snowboarders increase their risk of getting sunburned even more because UV exposure increases at higher altitudes.

"Generally, the biggest factor for sun-sensitivity is how pale your skin is," Bodemer said. "But the reality is that even the individual with the darkest skin can get sun damage."

Luckily, the solution to protecting your skin is simple: Wear sunscreen every day. Rigel recommended using sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 30, and that SPFs go higher at higher altitudes. As a rule of thumb, SPF 30 will block 97 percent of UVB rays, SPF 50 blocking 98 percent, and SPF 100 blocking 99 percent. Whatever kind of sunscreen you use, it's important to apply it once about every 2 hours.

Rigel also suggested sunscreens with "broad spectrum" — to protect against both UVB and UVA rays — as well as sunscreens that are water-resistant for up to 80 minutes. That way, you can go about your day without it wearing off too quickly.

1. Which of the statements best describes UV light?

A．UVB rays cause much less damage to skin than UVA rays.

B．Skin damage from UV light can be totally prevented by sunscreen.

C．Snow and ice make people suffer much more UV light damage.

D．People outdoors needn't worry about getting sunburned on a cold day.

2. Which is the most vital factor as for sun damage?

A．Your skin color.	B．The clothes you wear.
C．The altitude of your place.	D．The weather when you are outside.

3. What do we know about sunscreen?

A．The lower the sunscreen's SPF is, the better effect it will have.

B．People working on high mountains need sunscreen of SPF 30.

C．Applying sunscreen once a day when you are outside is necessary.

D．Water-resistant sunscreen can be applied once every 80 minutes.

4. What may be the best title for the text?

A．Being Exposed to Sun Rays	B．Ultraviolet A & Ultraviolet B
C．Preventing Sunburn in Winter	D．Different Kinds of Sunscreens

【推荐3】Thousands of people living in the Chinese capital will celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year by heading for the ski resorts. Never mind that Beijing’s dry weather seldom produces snow. It is cold enough in winter for snow-making machines to make a covering for the hills north to the capital. And the rapid growth of a pleasure-seeking middle class has formed the basis for this new popularity.

Since Beijing’s first ski resort was opened ten years ago, the sport has enjoyed astonishing increase. There are now more than a dozen resorts. Clothes markets in the city have added bright colored ski suits to their winter collections. Mr. Wei, a manager of a newly-opened ski resort in Beijing, sees the growth of an industry that could soon lead Chinese to head for the ski resorts of Europe. In recent years ski resorts offering natural snow have opened in China. But many are in faraway areas of the country and can’t really match the equipment and services of some ski resorts in Europe.

Beijing’s skiing popularity is partly a result of the recent increase in private cars. This has led to the growth of a leisure industry in the capital’s suburbs (郊区), which until the late-1990s were unreachable to ordinary people. According to Mr. Wei, about 40% of the visitors to his resort come in their own cars. The rest are bused in by schools, businesses or government offices.

The problem is making money. Starting ski resorts requires quite a lot of money: hiring land from the local government, preparing the hills, buying snow machines, making sure there are enough water and electricity to run them, and buying ski equipment for hiring out to customers. The ski resort where Mr. Wei works cost nearly $4 million to set up. And, as so often in China when someone comes up with a good idea, many others rush in and price wars break out. Beijing now offers some of the cheapest ski training classes in the world, though with most people rather new to the sport, expecting a few more doing the same job.

1. What does this text mainly talk about?

A．Convenience for skiers brought about by private cars.

B．A sudden increase of ski training classes in Beijing.

C．Things to be considered when starting a ski resort.

D．Skiing as a new way of enjoying one’s spare time.

2. Why are some Chinese likely to go skiing in Europe?

A．To visit more ski areas.	B．For better services and equipment.
C．For a large collection of ski suits.	D．To ski on natural snow.

3. The underlined words “leisure industry” in Paragraph 3 refer to ______.

A．transport to ski resorts

B．production of family cars

C．business of providing spare time enjoyments

D．part-time work for people living in the suburbs

4. What is the main problem in running a ski resort?

A．The price of the ski training classes.

B．Lack of business experience.

C．Shortage of water and electricity.

D．Difficulty in making money.