Bactrian camels (骆驼) in the Gobi usually give birth to a baby camel every second year. But because of the terrible weather conditions, it is common for a mother or baby to die during or after delivery. The result is often lonely babies and sad mothers who need one another.
After centuries in the desert, the locals have developed a unique musical practice (惯例) when they want a mother camel to accept a newborn baby camel. When the practice starts, a musician plays his instrument, usually a Mongolian flute. The mother and baby are tied together, and another musician begins to sing: “khuus, khuus, khuus.”
At first, the mother either pays no attention to the baby or treats it badly. The “coaxer (劝诱者),” at this point，changes the music based on the behavior. The singer begins to copy the sound of the camel’s walking, running and voices. After many hours of this, the mother and baby are in tears, and are joined for life.
However, each year fewer and fewer young peopel are willing to learn and pass on this tradition. In addition, more and more Mongolian families are sending daughters away to study and live in cities, and those who leave almost never return. The young men who remain in the desert struggle then to find wives and raise families that can help raise camels and keep the traditions alive. On top of that, many have discovered that motorbikes are cheaper than camels. All of this are killing the traditional way of life.
A few Mongolians have turned to the United Nations to help save this practice. In 2015, they added it to their “List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding,” but it’s hard to know what influence this can have beyond recognizing the existence of the practice.
1. Why do the locals develop the Mongolian practice?| A．To help baby camels get along with hosts. |
| B．To make mother camels give birth more often. |
| C．To calm down mother camels during delivery. |
| D．To strengthen mother and baby camels’ relationships. |
| A．It requires great skills. |
| B．It lasts for a few days. |
| C．The music is slow and sad. |
| D．The practice is still popular today. |
| A．Because of the useless of camels. |
| B．Because of the difficulty of the practice. |
| C．Because of the changes in locals’ lifestyle. |
| D．Because of the terrible weather in the desert. |
| A．Confident. | B．Uncertain. |
| C．Enthusiastic. | D．Upset. |
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【推荐1】UNESCO has added Italian opera singing, along with more than 50 other practices from around the world, to its list of Intangible (无形的) Cultural Heritage. The agency created the list in 2008 to help safeguard traditions, festivals, rites of passage, art forms and other practices across the globe. It also recognizes culturally and historically significant buildings, structures and properties with its well-known list of World Heritage Sites. It originates from the 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2023.
With UNESCO’s decision, opera singing joins several other Italian traditions on the list, like pizza making. “Performed by people of all genders, Italian opera singing is associated with specific facial expressions and body gestures and involves a combination of music, drama, acting and staging,” writes UNESCO.
The practice dates back to the Medici family in Florence in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Jacopo Peri’s Dafne, which was performed for the Medicis in 1598, is considered the first Italian opera. “This is a confirmation of what we’ve already known: Opera singing is a world excellence,” says Gennaro Sangiuliano, Italy’s culture minister, in a statement.
A wide variety of cultural practices, food dishes and festivals also made the list at UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage meeting in Botswana. The committee narrowed down nominations submitted by 72 nations, ultimately selecting 55 to add to the list. The full list now includes 730 practices from 145 countries. Six of the new additions are “in need of urgent safeguarding”, according to UNESCO. These include Syrian glassblowing, olive cultivation in Türkiye and a traditional Malaysian performance called Mek Mulung. The non-urgent additions include several annual events, such as the Rotterdam Summer Carnival in the Netherlands, the Sango Festival of Oyo in Nigeria, the Junkanoo in the Bahamas and the Shuwalid festival in Ethiopia.
1. Why was Italian opera singing added to the UNESCO’s list?| A．To prove its perfection. | B．To preserve this art form. |
| C．To strengthen its competitiveness. | D．To celebrate this art’s 20th anniversary. |
| A．Its features. | B．Its prospects. | C．Its origin. | D．Its cost. |
| A．It has a long history. | B．It awaits confirmation. |
| C．It has received high recognition. | D．It comes from a well-known performance. |
| A．The Art Forms in Italy |
| B．The Introduction to UNESCO |
| C．730 Practices Are Ready to Be Added to the UNESCO’s List |
| D．The UNESCO’s List Welcomes Italian Opera Singing & Other Practices |
【推荐2】In a working site near Paris, several people are busy cleaning a canvas (画布), trying to correct the pains of time: the repairing of 22 paintings of Notre-Dame (巴黎圣母院) which was damaged by a fire in April 2019, is “a race against time”.
The project of repairing these works, which must be returned to the building for its reopening in 2024, is a unique one compared to others.
“Two years may seem like a long time, but that’s the time it takes to do the job of simply one canvas like The Triumph of Job, which is behind us,” one expert Laurence said, pointing out the huge work several meters high by the Italian artist Guido Reni, which was hung behind her back.
“You do not touch a canvas without knowing its medical history”, underlines Lavit, heritage curator (馆长) at the Center of research and repair of the Museums of France.
Once this history is known, the paintings move on to cleaning. The protector-repairer Pasquali stresses that it is a team effort.
Opposite her is Hulot, an expert in repair. One object of his attention is The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew by French artist Lubin Baugin. His job is to make sure that the canvases do not break.
Meanwhile, another team takes care of the frames. “The heat of the fire dried and weaken the wood,” comments Galopin.
Once all these steps have been completed, the paintings are stored in a special room. It takes between 8 and 10 people to move them safely. They will remain there until the reopening of the church.
1. What do we know about the repair work?| A．Its focus is on cleaning a canvas. |
| B．It is considered as the pains of time. |
| C．It is different from all other projects. |
| D．Its working site is in the city of Paris. |
| A．The paintings were badly damaged in the 2019 fire. |
| B．Workers need to spend two years studying one canvas. |
| C．The huge work of an Italian artist should be returned soon. |
| D．The project is to be completed by the reopening of the church. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. | D．Four. |
| A．Moving on to cleaning. |
| B．Taking care of the frames. |
| C．Storing the paintings in a room. |
| D．Getting to know its medical history. |
| A．Travel and Experience. | B．Art and Culture. |
| C．Science and Technology. | D．History and Legend. |
【推荐3】Should we allow modern buildings to be built next to older buildings in a historic area of a city? In order to answer this question, we must first examine whether people really want to preserve the historic feel of an area. Not all historical buildings are attractive. However, there may be other reasons --- for example, economic reasons --- why they should be preserved. So, let us assume that historical buildings are both attractive and important to the majority of people. What should we do then if a new building is needed?
In my view, new architectural styles can exist perfectly well alongside an older style. Indeed, there are many examples in my own home town of Tours where modern designs have been placed very successfully next to old buildings. As long as the building in question is pleasing and does not dominate (影响) its surroundings too much, it often improves the attractiveness of the area.
It is true that there are examples of new buildings which have spoilt (破坏) the area they are in, but the same can be said of some old buildings too. Yet people still speak against new buildings in historic areas. I think this is simply because people are naturally conservative(保守的)and do not like change.
Although we have to respect people’s feelings as fellow users of the buildings, I believe that it is the duty of the architect and planner to move things forward. If we always reproduced what was there before, we would all still be living in caves. Thus, I would argue against copying previous architectural styles and choose something fresh and different, even though that might be the more risky choice.
1. What does the author say about historical buildings in the first paragraph?| A．They have nothing to do with the historic feel of an area. |
| B．Most of them are too expensive to preserve. |
| C．They are more pleasing than modern buildings. |
| D．Some of them are not attractive. |
| A．Destroy old buildings |
| B．Choose new architectural styles |
| C．Put things in a different place |
| D．Respect people’s feelings for historical buildings |
| A．To explain why people dislike change. |
| B．To warn that we could end up living in caves. |
| C．To admit how new buildings have ruined their surroundings. |
| D．To argue that modern buildings can be built in historic areas. |
【推荐1】In 1834 Cambridge University philosopher William Whewell coined the term “scientist” to describe someone who studies the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. You could conclude that the first modern scientist was someone like Charles Darwin or Michael Faraday, two iconic figures who also happened to be Whewell’s contemporaries.
We could go back to the ancient Greeks, all the way back to Thales of Miletus. Thales achieved much in both science and mathematics, yet he left no written record. Homer, a celebrated figure, received credit for many great achievements, but may never have existed at all. We could consider other ancient Greeks as well, such as Euclid, the father of geometry (几何学) or Ptolemy, the misguided astronomer. But all of these men relied on supposing instead of running experiments to prove or disprove hypotheses (假说).
Christian Huygens, Robert Hooke and Isaac Newton fulfilled these requirements. But to find the first scientist, you have to travel to the earlier. You probably think of Galileo Galilei. He overturned Aristotle’s ideas on motion. Yet Galileo owed much to another person born 20 years earlier. His name was William Gilbert, a rather unknown figure in the history of science.
Gilbert was born in 1544 in England and then attended Cambridge University. His work reached the peak in On the Magnet, Magnetic Bodies, and the Great Magnet of the Earth. In the book’s preface,
Gilbert described the need for “sure experiments, observations and demonstrated arguments” instead of “conjectures (猜想) and the opinions of inference”. He also discussed the importance of conducting experiments carefully and skillfully. The scientists followed his advice and achieved a lot. Gilbert directly influenced Galileo, who nodded in affirmation (肯定) at Gilbert’s ideas about experimentation and observation. It is no wonder that Galileo claimed Gilbert to be the founder of the scientific method. This statement may be enough to confirm that Gilbert was the first modern scientist.
1. What can we learn about Darwin, Faraday or Whewell according to the text?| A．They are of about the same age. | B．Whewell is more famous than Faraday. |
| C．Whewell was born later than the other two. | D．Faraday is better known than Darwin. |
| A．Isaac Newton. | B．Robert Hooke. |
| C．William Gilbert. | D．Christian Huygens. |
| A．He made summaries or analyses. | B．He made conjectures or hypotheses. |
| C．He discussed and argued with others. | D．He did experiments and investigated. |
| A．The definition of a scientist. |
| B．Some scientists in the old days. |
| C．Researches done by some famous scientists. |
| D．The introduction of the first scientist. |
【推荐2】According to a recent study in the Journal of Consumer Research, both the size and consumption habits of our eating companions (同伴) can influence our food intake. And contrary (相反的) to existing research that says you should avoid eating with heavier people who order large portions (份), it’s the beanpoles with big appetites (饭量) you really need to avoid.
To test the effect of social influence on eating habits, the researchers conducted two experiments. In the first, 95 undergraduate women were individually invited into a lab to ostensibly (表面上) participate in a study about movie viewership. Before the film began, each woman was asked to help herself to a snack. An actor hired by the researchers grabbed her food first. In her natural state, the actor weighed 105 pounds. But in half the cases she wore a specially designed fat suit which increased her weight to 180 pounds.
Both the fat and thin versions of the actor took a large amount of food. The participants followed suit, taking more food than they normally would have. However, they took significantly more when the actor was thin.
For the second test, in one case the thin actor took two pieces of candy from the snack bowls. In the other case, she took 30 pieces. The results were similar to the first test: the participants followed suit but took significantly more candy when the thin actor took 30 pieces.
The tests show that the social environment is extremely influential when we’re making decisions. If this fellow participant is going to eat more, so will I. Call it the “I’ll have what she’s having” effect. However, we’ll adjust the influence. If an overweight person is having a large portion, I’ll hold back a bit because I see the results of his eating habits. But if a thin person eats a lot, I’ll follow suit. If he can eat much and keep slim, why can’t I?
1. What is the recent study mainly about?| A．Food safety. | B．Movie viewership. |
| C．Consumer demand. | D．Eating behavior. |
| A．Big eaters. | B．Overweight persons. |
| C．Picky eaters. | D．Tall thin persons. |
| A．To see how she would affect the participants. | B．To test if the participants could recognize her. |
| C．To find out what she would do in the two tests. | D．To study why she could keep her weight down. |
| A．A news report. | B．A science textbook. |
| C．A research paper. | D．A travel brochure. |
【推荐3】You know those lovely little ears of corn that show up in some of your favorite Chinese take-out dishes? Ever wondered how they grow so small? Are there tiny little farmers out somewhere taking care of tiny cornfields? Are they specially grown to be tiny or are they just little baby regular corn? Well the answer is that they truly are just baby ears of regular corn. The corn is harvested in an early stage from nearly any variety of regular-sized corn plant.
There’s evidence showing that humans’ love for miniature(微型的)things can date back 3000 years. By the 1400s,miniature things had become more popular, with painters like Jean Fouquet creating images only7.5 centimeters wide. Somewhere along the way, our fascination with things in miniature from goats and owls to tiny houses came to include vegetables, too.
Baby carrots, little ears of corn, and micro greens are common today from fresh produce and frozen meals to take-out and fancy restaurant foods. But where do those tiny vegetables come from? It turns out, a vegetable packaged, sold or served as a baby may actually be a young vegetable-or it may not.It’s also entirely possible that a baby vegetable is a dwarf(侏儒)or hybrid version of a full-sized vegetable.
Baby bok choy for example, is a young vegetable that is harvested early for its tender and mild qualities. However there also are dwarf varieties of baby bok choy that have a similar look and taste to their early-harvested cousins.
There are about 50 different types of vegetables that are grown or imported as miniatures in the United States. And while the United States produces the most com in the world, it imports almost all of its baby com from other countries. Thailand produces the most baby corn, followed by Sir Lanka.
1. What can be known about the little ears of corn in some Chinese take out dishes?| A．They are grown by tiny little farmers. |
| B．They are just little baby regular corn |
| C．They are specially grown to be tiny. |
| D．They grow in tiny cornfields. |
| A．The advantages of miniature things. |
| B．The characters of miniature things. |
| C．The reason why people love miniature things. |
| D．The history of people’s love for miniature things. |
| A．To show it is of high quality. |
| B．To compare it with other baby vegetables. |
| C．To present the difficulty in producing it. |
| D．To show baby vegetables may exist for different reasons. |
| A．What benefits baby vegetables bring. |
| B．How many kinds of vegetables are developed. |
| C．Where baby vegetables come from. |
| D．How popular baby vegetables are. |
