【推荐1】The Victorians’ Way of Having Fun

Whether it was visiting a human zoo, taking a bull on a hot-air balloon ride, or singing beautiful songs, Victorian Londoners loved to have fun. As performance managers came up with increasingly well-designed ways to make money from the capital’s huge potential audience, Victorians effectively invented the modern leisure industry – including theme parks, pubs and professional football. As a new book by historian Lee Jackson explains, the hunt for profit involves surrounding morality, class and empire. So where did Victorians go for fun? And what still exists today?

Dancing Rooms: Argyll Rooms, Piccadilly

It’s now a building site near Leicester Square, but when the Argyll Rooms lost its licence in 1878, there was a riot (暴乱). Drunken students were so angry at the closure of their favourite place that they took to the streets. The Argyll closed as the dance craze came to an end, and Bignell turned the space into the Trocadero music hall. It kept that name through the 20th century when it was transformed into one of London’s most tasteless tourist attractions. The site currently awaits development into a hotel.

Pleasure gardens: Gremorne Gardens, Chelsea

Gremorne was run by three West End pub owners, popular among the young people then. It closed in 1877 after losing its licence. Pleasure gardens more generally lost their meaning of existence with the establishment of public parks. London’s rapid growth meant the valuable land was usually sold to big companies for other purposes, which is why so little of London’s great pleasure gardens remain.

Pleasure gardens were also overshadowed by larger exhibition grounds such as the Crystal Palace, which tried to find a way of balancing entertainment with cultural education. Little physically remains of the Crystal Palace itself, which moved to Sydenham from Hyde Park in 1854, but the grand 200-acre grounds still exist as a public park.

On the site of the Methodist Central Hall was a short-lived attraction that attempted to transport the seaside to central London. It was railways that made Margate and Southend accessible to Londoners, and some of the leisure activities peculiar to the seaside soon made it back to the capital.

Football grounds: Craven Cottage, Stevenage Road, Fulham

Fulham FC, London’s oldest professional football club, still works at their first ground, built by the Victorians in 1896. Versions of the sport had been around for centuries, but it was the Victorians who created the game and then professionalized it. This led to enclosed grounds where spectators paid for admittance, with the income spent on acquiring new players. The modern game was born.

1. Which of the following is not similar in meaning to “took to the streets” in Para. 2?

A．gathered together in the streets	B．enjoyed window shopping
C．went outside on the streets	D．protested on the streets

2. The reason why fewer great pleasure gardens are left in London is that        .

A．people built more factories	B．they were turned into farming land
C．the land was sold to developers	D．they became university campuses

3. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．The money from football is used to buy new players.

B．London has much on its football history.

C．Fulham F.C. is more than 200 years old.

D．The Victorians have cultivated many footballers.

4. Which of the following is the main idea of this passage?

A．The building of railways led to the theme parks.

B．The West End’s gardens became big hotels.

C．The Victorians largely invented modern leisure industries.

D．The income from modern football supports new players.

【推荐2】It’s a Saturday morning in a large courtyard. Young designers sell their creations, from fine tea sets to hand-painted earrings. I could be in east London, that is, until standard Chinese tones remind me I’m in Jingdezhen, a small Chinese city.

Centuries ago, when Europeans first saw Chinese porcelain, it seemed so fine that they concluded it must have been made with magic and called it “white gold”.

They couldn’t find out how it was made, but they knew where it came from: the town of Changnan. Changnan porcelain was so in demand that early traders began calling the whole country by this town name. Mixed by foreign tongues, Changnan transformed into China.

Two million years after porcelain’s invention, the town, now called Jingdezhen, is still one of the world’s most important centers for porcelain production.

“The people are the most important treasure here. Their roots are deep in history.” says Zhang Jia. She’s part of a new wave of designers who have come to Jingdezhen to learn techniques handed down and refined( 使精美 ) over a hundred generations. “This is the best place to study porcelain in China, perhaps in the entire world,” she added.

Chinese artists aren’t the only ones drawn here. Founded in 2005 by Caroline Cheng, the Pottery Workshop runs classes for visitors from around the world.

Paul told me that when he first visited Jingdezhen there were no street lamps and only dirty pavements. There were workshops but their goods were bought by traders and sold on elsewhere. These days, stylish cafes and bars pop up next to concept stores. At one such shop, I admired some tiny teacups like birds.

With the popularity of the ottery Workshop, many of the designers are using Jingdezhen’s master craftsmen to make them because they know they offer quality, attention to detail.

1. What made the writer realize that he was in China?

A．Fine tea sets	B．HandPDF-paintedearrings
C．Standard Chinese	D．Fine Chinese porcelain

2. Why did early Europeans call Chinese porcelain “white gold”?

A．Because it was made in China.

B．Because they thought it was made with magic.

C．Because they knew it came from Changnan.

D．Because they liked it so much and it was in demand.

3. Zhang Jia came to Jingdezhen in order to__________.

A．know something about Jingdezhen’s history.

B．enjoy the beautiful scenery of Jingdezhen

C．study techniques of making porcelain

D．pay a visit to some of his foreign friends

4. From what Paul said we can learn______.

A．many foreign visitors came to Jingdezhen to study porcelain

B．China’s young people are more interested in unique products

C．their goods were not popular in western countries

D．in the past Jingdezhen was a poor and dirty town

【推荐3】Migingo, a tiny rock island on Lake Victoria in Kenya, measures just 0.49 acres. According to some accounts, it was originally settled by two Kenyan fishermen, who came here in 1991. Others say it was a Ugandan who came here first and then brought more of his fishing friends. It was this kind of contradictory stories and the battle over the island’s fish-rich waters that created a conflict over the ownership of Migingo between Kenya and Uganda.

Back in 2009, Migingo has a population of 131, but the number has ballooned to around 1000. Drawn by the large population of Nile perch, fishermen from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania crowded into Migingo. In spite of measures set in place to keep population under control, the place becomes packed to the point where there’s little room to walk in.

What’s really surprising is that just a few meters away lies a much larger and completely uninhabited island called Usingo. It is said that the place is home to a demon (魔鬼), and fishermen are afraid to even set foot on it, let alone live there with their families. But it turns out to be just a rumor online. Locals haven’t even heard about any demons, but they do have a very practical reason.

Despite permanent police presence from both Uganda and Kenya, pirate (海盗) attacks still occur. They are not as frequent and violent as they used to be, but every few months fishermen do run into pirate stealing their catch and boat engines, sometimes even killing them in the process. But there is strength in numbers, so it’s safer for most people to live on Migingo than to risk moving to Usingo.

Migingo remains the world most densely populated island, but it may not hold that title for much longer. Due to over-fishing around the island, the supply of Nile perch is on the decrease, and people are starting to move to other fishing spots.

1. What can we know about Migingo according to the text?

A．It belongs to two countries.	B．It has the densest population.
C．It attracts the most tourists.	D．It is home to brave fishermen.

2. Why do fishermen refuse to move to Usingo?

A．They may be attacked by pirates.

B．They can’t get a huge catch of fish.

C．They believe there live some demons.

D．They can’t be protected by policemen there.

3. What may happen to Migingo in several years?

A．It will cause more violent conflicts.

B．It will be a suitable place to live in.

C．It will be deserted by some fishermen.

D．It will have the largest population of fish.

【推荐2】A conference was held with former technology industry leaders calling for urgent measures to protect children from smartphone addiction.

Among those urging major changes is Tristan Harris—a former high-level employee at Google. He just launched a group that will seek to gather and publish evidence of how digital devices and social media can harm children and young people. Harris says he believes companies like Google, Facebook and Apple have a "moral responsibility" not to create technology products that can "hijack how the mind works".

The conference where Harris spoke was sponsored by Common Sense Media, a child and family activist group. The organization says research suggests that half of all teenagers feel addicted to their mobile devices, while about 60 percent of parents believe their kids are addicted.

The group also cites a recent study of eighth-graders that found heavy users of technology were 56 percent more likely to say they are unhappy, while 27 percent more likely to be depressed. Even Facebook cited research last year suggesting that social media use can harm mental health when used in certain ways.

James Steyer is the founder of Common Sense. He says more than half of schools in the US are already members of the organization. The group provides teachers and parents with learning materials intended to help students develop critical thinking skills and balance their digital lives.

Some US schools, however, have tried to limit or remove technology to improve learning. One of them is in Silicon Valley, the center of the American tech industry.

The Waldorf School of the Peninsula does not use any computers or digital technology in its education programs up to the seventh grade. The school's website says while Waldorf teachers recognize the role technology can play in the classroom, it must wait until the student reaches the right developmental age. Normally when students reach high school, they are allowed to use computers and digital tools in the classroom.

1. What is Facebook, Google and Apple's "moral responsibility" according to Tristan Harris?

A．Preventing children from chatting on social media.

B．Stopping making products that do harm to young people

C．Providing parents with materials to help their children.

D．Finding a way to get children away from addiction.

2. What does the underlined word in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Benefit.	B．Exercise.
C．Control	D．Entertain.

3. What do we know from the last two paragraphs?

A．Waldorf School bans technology from its education programs.

B．Waldorf School doesn't believe that computers can improve learning

C．Waldorf School pays much attention to improving learning.

D．Waldorf School limits the use of digital tools in its classrooms.

4. Which can be the best title for the passage?

A．Computer Companies Should Live up to Their Moral Responsibility

B．Digital Addiction Does Harm to Children's Mental Health

C．Waldorf School Doesn't Use Digital Tools in its Education Program

D．A Conference Calls for Actions to Protect Children from Digital Addiction