The Global Heritage Fund,a nonprofit organization, aims to protect places of cultural importance in developing countries for the reason that these countries often have few resources to protect such places and that other major cultural organizations often pay more attention to protecting places in the developed world. For example, the UNESCO has 45 World Heritage places in Italy, 42 in Spain, but Peru, famous for its ancient Incan buildings, has only 9 World Heritage places. Guatemala has only 3.
The fund recently released a list of cultural treasures in the developing world that are in danger of disappearing. These places are important because they are records of our human civilization. Globalization has created an international culture that is about sameness. But the endangered places it is trying to protect represent the rich differences of human culture throughout history.
One of the fund's current projects is in Guatemala's (危地马拉) Mirador Basin, which contains several important examples of ancient Mayan settlements. The buildings are surrounded by forest.
Centuries of tree growth have covered the pyramids and religious buildings, which provide some of the finest examples of the early part of the Mayan civilization (玛雅文明). But this area is in danger from robbers and people cutting trees illegally. Also, over the past ten years, over 70% of the natural environment in the area has been destroyed by fires.
The fund has 3 goals for its Mirador project. One is helping the government obtain UNESCO recognition. Another is establishing permanent protection for the area. And the third is working to make the area a sustainable protected area within 10 years.
To meet these goals, money from the fund will go toward restoring the buildings of El Mirador and mapping and exploring newly discovered buildings. The fund is also paying to train local guides on how to stop theft and illegal tree-cutting. Educational programs are helping to give people in the area the skills they need to have jobs that do not endanger this protected area.
The Global Heritage Fund says we have a duty to the people of the past, present and future to make sure we do not lose these examples of human history. Every country, organization and individual can play a role in helping to protect this rich history.
1. Why does the Global Heritage fund focus on protecting cultural places in developing countries?| A．They are poor and often ignored. | B．They are more important to mankind. |
| C．They are attractive to tourists. | D．They are fascinating and dangerous. |
| A．Because we should create an international culture about sameness. |
| B．Because the developing world needs them to make money. |
| C．Because they can help speed up the process of globalization. |
| D．Because the rich differences of human culture should be preserved. |
| A．Sustainable protection. | B．National recognition. |
| C．Financial cooperation. | D．Employment promotion. |
| A．World Heritage in Danger. | B．The Global Heritage Fund. |
| C．Every Project Matters. | D．Every Individual Maers. |
相似题推荐
Do you:
◆love the National Park, value it and hope to safeguard its future?
◆Wish to see the beautiful landscape of the Park protected?
◆Like to enjoy peaceful, informal recreation within the Park?
Aims
The Friends organization aims to help protect and improve the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park for all to enjoy. We are a voluntary organization and registered charity without financial links to the National Park Authority.
Activities
We encourage everyone to enjoy the National Park through regular talks and visits to interesting places in the Park with expert guides.
We keep an eye on planning applications, Park Authority policies and threats to the National Park such as massive leisure complexes. We work with like minded organizations such as the Campaign for National Parks to make our voice more effective.
We help children to understand the National Park by sponsoring publications such as an adventure booklet and projects in local schools.
Benefits
◆Guided visits to places of interest which may not always be available to the general public.
◆All members receive our regular News and Views.
◆Talks by experts in their fields on current issues.
◆A discount is available on Friends items for sale.
◆Satisfaction of participation in work parties, for those willing and able to be involved.
If interested, please complete the Application Form at
1. Which of the following is discouraged by the Friends organization?
| A．To sponsor publications and projects in local school. |
| B．To prevent possible damages to the National Park. |
| C．To help protect and improve the Park for all to enjoy. |
| D．To build massive complexes for public amusement. |
| A．have Friends’ goods free of charge |
| B．take part in work parties if they want to |
| C．visit any place not open to the public |
| D．give talks in their fields on current issues |
| A．raise money for the Friends organization |
| B．work as managers for Pembrokeshire National Park |
| C．join the Friends organization and be members of it |
| D．enjoy the landscape of Pembrokeshire National Park |
【推荐2】Don’t ignore the difference teenagers can make.
Jonny Thomas, 14, Florida
When Jonny Michael Thomas decided to honor his friend and classmate Elizabeth Buckley, who died from cancer, he remembered how much she loved peacocks(孔雀).
He wanted to build a life-sized peacock fountain in Elizabeth’s favorite park in the city. He thought it could be a place for people to relax and be inspired.
Jonny raised $52,000 to build the fountain.
Barrett England, 13, Utah
The wheels began to turn for Barrett England when he heard about Karma Bike shop, a place where young people can earn a free bike by reading and performing community service.
Barrett visited Karma’s owner with his idea: He would collect and repair used bikes and donate them to the shop.
He expected to get about 10 donated bikes. In the end, Barrett received 39.
Zachary Blohm, 15, Wisconsin
The 25-year-old playground at an elementary school near Milwaukee, Wis., was so small that only 70 of its 575 students could play on it at a time.
That’s when Zachary Blohm saved the day. He and some volunteers build a huge playground. To raise money, Zac planned T-shirt and bake sales (烤饼义卖), sold tickets and more. He held monthly money-raising events for more than a year. Overall, he collected $130,000--- enough to finish his project.
Jack Zimmerman, 16, New Jersey
For some people, finding a meal is as simple as opening the refrigerator. For more than 366,000 hungry kids in New Jersey, it’s not that easy.
That fact didn’t sit well with Jack Zimmerman, who organized a drive to reduce childhood hunger in his state. His goal: create 40,000 packaged meals that could be donated to those in need.
On game day, Jack and his volunteers started their work. After the final count, the team had packaged 47,124 meals — well above Jack’s goal.
1. The peacock fountain was built in a park ________.| A．in memory of a teenager | B．for the love of animals |
| C．to encourage people | D．to cure a cancer sufferer |
| A．He helped it win customers. | B．He repaired bikes there. |
| C．He donated bikes to it. | D．He offered a reading service there. |
| A．Jack. | B．Jonny. | C．Barrett. | D．Zachary. |
| A．They’re top students. | B．They care about others. |
| C．They like various public activities. | D．They’re money raisers for the poor. |
【推荐3】Tracey’s husband told her. “If you build it, they will come.” So Tracey built a dance studio four years ago, and he was right.
Tracey built Revere Dance Studio in an old large church in Cincinnati, Ohio. It may seem like an odd place to run a dance studio, but this church was disability accessible and that’s just what Tracey was looking for. Tracey needed a new home for her wheelchair dance students after the studio that was hosting the classes closed.
Now Tracey has been teaching free dance classes to students in wheelchairs for over four years. This season, her class is made up of six boys and girls ranging in age from 6 to 11 who attend dance rehearsals (排练) twice a month. Tracey says these classes are about more than the dancing. “For any child to get out on stage is an accomplishment,” Tracey said. Tracey has always considered the students in her “Wonders on Wheels” class to be talented, but this week she got to share their talents with the world. On Sunday, the WOW class debuted(初次登台) a dance routine they’ve been working on since October.
Last October, one week before the dance class reunited for a new season, one of the WOW children, Katie, passed away unexpectedly. Her teammates were heartbroken. They decided to honor their friend by giving this season’s dance to her. Everyone knew how much Katie loved Celine Dion, so the group chose the song My Heart Will Go On for the dance routine.
The six WOW dancers, dressed in white, were surrounded by fourteen dancers dressed in black. These “shadows” are high school girls who volunteer to dance alongside the children in wheelchairs, helping them move across the dance floor. As the song came to an end, a huge round of applause erupted from the audience.
1. Why did Tracey build the dance studio in the church?| A．It is free of charge. | B．It is near her home. |
| C．It’s easy for the disabled to use. | D．It is big enough to hold dancers. |
| A．for free | B．twice a week |
| C．only to girls in wheelchairs | D．with the help of volunteers |
| A．Brave and determined. | B．Talented and strict. |
| C．Devoted and hopeful. | D．Generous and kind. |
| A．Tracey and her Dancing Career |
| B．A Wonderful Dance Performance |
| C．Children in Wheelchairs Struggle in the Dance Studio |
| D．children in Wheelchairs Realize Dancing Dreams |
【推荐1】Santa Claus is someone who will remain in the hearts of children forever. He is the make-believe person who brings toys and other gifts to children at Christmas.
To grown-ups, he is a special symbol of goodwill and selfless giving. Santa Claus also has another name — Saint Nicholas.
Saint Nicholas came from the Dutch who settled in New York long ago. The Dutch believed Saint Nicholas gave gifts to children. They honored this kindly Saint with a yearly festival on December sixth.
The English-speaking people who lived nearby greatly enjoyed Dutch festivals. And they brought the Saint and the custom of giving gifts into their own celebration at Christmas time. The Dutch spoke the name “Saint Nicholas” very fast. It sounded like “sinterklaas”. And so, when the English said this word, it sounded like Santa Claus.
The picture of Santa Claus came from Thomas Nast. He was an American painter born in Bavaria. He painted pictures for Christmas poems. Someone asked him to paint a picture of Santa Claus. Nast remembered when he was a little boy in southern Germany, every Christmas a fat old man gave toys and cakes to the children. So when Nast painted the picture, his Santa Claus looked like the kindly old man of his childhood.
And through the years, Nast’s painting has remained as the most popular picture of Santa Claus.
Santa can be seen almost everywhere in large American cities during the Christmas season. Some stand on street corners asking for money to buy food and gifts for the needy. Others are found in stores and shopping centers. It is easy to find them by the long lines of children waiting to tell Santa what they want for Christmas. If one took a vote among children to learn who their favorite person was, there is no question who would win — Santa Claus.
1. The Dutch honored Saint Nicholas mainly for his .| A．bravery | B．kindness |
| C．honesty | D．intelligence |
| A．Christmas was a festival first celebrated by the Dutch |
| B．the English were the first people to settle in New York |
| C．the story of Saint Claus was first told among the Dutch |
| D．the English used to receive gifts from the Dutch at Christmas |
| A．In New York. | B．In Germany. |
| C．In England. | D．In Bavaria. |
| A．The tradition of Christmas. |
| B．The popularity of Santa Claus. |
| C．Children’s wishes for Christmas. |
| D．Business activities at Christmas. |
【推荐2】Squirrels eavesdrop on (窃听) the chatter of songbirds to work out whether the appearance of a predator (食肉动物) is cause for alarm, researchers have found. Animals including squirrels have previously been found to tune in to cries of alarm from other creatures.
But the latest study suggests animals may also keep an ear out for everyday chitchat among other species as a way to assess whether there is trouble afoot.
Writing in the journal Plos One, researchers reported on how they made their discovery by observing 67 grey squirrels as they pottered about (晃悠) different areas in the residential regions of Oberlin.
After 30 seconds of observing a squirrel, researchers played it a recording of the call of a red-tailed hawk (鹰), which lasted a couple of seconds — and their behaviour in the next 30 seconds was monitored. The squirrels were then played a three-minute recording of several different species of songbird chattering on a feeder.
The results revealed that in the 30 seconds after hearing the hawk call the squirrels increased the percentage of their time spent “vigilant” (警惕) compared with before the call, while they also looked up more often to scan the environment. Squirrels that were played bird chatter raised their heads less often during the recording and the number of these “look-ups” dropped off faster over time.
“Recognition of bird chatter as a sign of safety is likely adaptive, as squirrels that can safely reduce their vigilance level in the presence of bird chatter probably are able to increase foraging (觅食) success,” the authors wrote.
The team suggested that with levels of human-made noise increasing, squirrels may find it harder to eavesdrop on birds, meaning they may have to spend more time being alert and less time foraging.
Dr Jakob Bro-Jorgensen, co-author of the study from Oberlin College, said: “The study calls attention to how animals can gather information from their environment by using cues that may at first glance seem irrelevant,” he said. “And it makes you wonder how the more and more pervasive (无处不在的) impact of human activities on natural soundscapes may reduce survival of wildlife in ways we haven’t thought of.”
1. What does the new research find about squirrels’ eavesdropping?| A．It lacks scientific evidence. | B．It is more widespread and broader. |
| C．It needs to be further investigated. | D．It is contradictory to previous findings. |
| A．The subject of the experiment. | B．The findings of the experiment |
| C．The process of the experiment. | D．The purpose of the experiment |
| A．They can escape from potential risks. | B．It helps them to forage food successfully. |
| C．It is safe for them to play with their mates | D．They can adapt to a new environment quickly. |
| A．Its implication. | B．Its appeal to the public. |
| C．Expectations for further study. | D．Scientists with new perspectives. |
【推荐3】In most towns today, you can see teenagers standing over electronic machines with flashing lights, shooting at spaceships from other planets and dropping bombs on strange monsters (怪兽). The machines have names like Space Warrior, Dark Invader and so on. It used to be believed that damage was done only to those strange visitors from outer space, but now it seems that they are striking back.
Many teenagers like electronic games so much that they can’t stop playing. They spend hours tightly holding the joystick controls and constantly pressing buttons marked “fire”. They develop pains in their fingers because of the constant pressure. They play and play so that the pains have no chance to cure properly. The rapid wrist movement required to guide the spaceship across the screen causes another problem: The muscles of the wrist and arm become so inflamed and swollen (肿胀的) that they press against the bones. This condition is what doctors now call “Space Warrior’s Wrist”.
Other strange aches and pains are also likely to affect the elbows and shoulders. Another even more alarming problem is shown by the case of a 17-year-old girl which was recently in the British Medical Journal. She had been playing various kinds of electronic games for more than two hours a day. Her father repaired games and machines and she could use the cassettes and systems in his workshop as often as she liked. One day, after playing a game called Dark Invader, she lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
Doctors who examined her found she was suffering from an unusual illness caused by lights flashing at a particular frequency.
1. Who are electronic games found very popular with?| A．People living in towns. | B．Students studying in high school. |
| C．Girls working in their father’s workshops. | D．Young people. |
| A．By constantly pressing the buttons. | B．By rapidly moving across the screen. |
| C．By tightly holding the joystick controls. | D．By inflamed and swollen muscles of the wrist. |
| A．The writer supports playing electronic games. |
| B．The writer feels very sorry for the girl. |
| C．The writer disagrees with young people’s playing electronic games. |
| D．The writer feels worried about young people’s poor health. |
| A．Enjoyable and helpful to the study. | B．Exciting but harmful to the health and study. |
| C．Interesting but harmless to the eyes. | D．Amusing and satisfying. |
