When cultural heritage sites disappear, they’re gone forever. However, they are being endangered at an alarming rate by rising seas (Venice), pollution (the Taj Mahal) and overtourism (Angkor Wat). Just to name a few.
But when we try to protect these heritage sites, we also have to face such thorny questions as “What part of the past is worth preserving and passing on to the next generations? What duty do we owe to the creations of our ancestors? What strength do we draw from their presence — and when, on the contrary, do they become a lead weight, preventing us from projecting ourselves into the future?”
Humankind has answered these difficult questions differently in different places. In Dresden, Germany, the Frauenkirche was an 18th-century church whose bell-shaped top was a landmark. In February, 1945, one of the most destructive bombing attacks of World War II killed more than 25,000 people and reduced the city to ruins. With Dresden slowly rebuilt after the war, the Frauenkirche was left in ruins. But after German reunification, the church was reconstructed using many of its original materials, as a statement of peace and harmony.
Like the Frauenkirche, Notre Dame, a landmark in Paris, which was destroyed by fire in 2019, is being rebuilt as close as possible to how it was before, including using the original and poisonous metal-lead-for the roof. That choice was controversial, as future choices are bound to be in the debate about how to restore and preserve historic buildings.
Perhaps, no one can claim to have the right answers on preservation. There may not even be right answers. What we will do is to continue to take care of important cultural heritage sites, as a matter of significance to humanity’s past, present and future.
1. Which heritage site is overcrowded?| A．Venice. | B．Dresden. | C．The Taj Mahal. | D．Angkor Wat. |
| A．Tough. | B．Smart. | C．Interesting. | D．Important. |
| A．The high rebuilding costs. | B．The timing of reconstruction. |
| C．The choice of certain material. | D．The significance of preservation |
| A．We should protect as many heritage sites as possible. |
| B．It is better to leave the damaged historic buildings alone. |
| C．Historic buildings should be rebuilt with the same materials. |
| D．Heritage sites serve as an important link among human beings. |
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【推荐1】You’re walking through a museum when a piece of art seems to call out to you. You walk over and move as close as you can. Why is it so attractive to just reach out and touch it?
Professor Fiona Candlin at Birkbeck College has been asking this question for over 20 years. Candlin was working at a museum in Liverpool in the early 2000s when the U.K.’s Disability Discrimination Act first passed. Thanks to the new law, museums were starting to make exhibits more accessible to people having trouble seeing. But Candlin says, “I thought a lot of the stuff they put on made little sense. They didn’t begin to think about how we might understand things through touching them.”
Most museum-going is a primarily visual experience. Exhibits are generally “on view” or “on display”, and visitors learn about historic and artistic objects from reading programs and explanations. But this was not always the case. Before museums appeared, there were curiosity cabinets (陈列柜). “When people visited them”, Candlin says, “they would handle things and talk about them.”
But as museums grew, this became unsustainable. “When you’ve got four million visitors a year, you can hardly have everybody touching something,” says Candlin. People have dirty hands and love wearing rings and watches, which mayharm the delicate objects. Therefore, most museums tend to advertise themselves as hands-off, except in controlled situations and locations.
And yet, we’re all doing it anyway. Ultimately, the question may be why we are so unwilling to keep our hands to ourselves. Candlin’s interviewees had various excuses. Some claimed they wanted to ensure the artworks were real. Others figured the lack of glass cases meant everything was fair game. But Candlin thinks there’s a larger truth. “I think you can’t really learn about things unless you handle them. Touching changes how you experience an object.”
1. How did Candlin feel about the museums’ new effort?| A．Doubtful. | B．Dissatisfied. | C．Surprised. | D．Anxious. |
| A．Museums should set up curiosity cabinets. |
| B．Museums should limit the number of visitors. |
| C．Touching betters your understanding of artworks. |
| D．Touching artworks in unlocked glass cases is OK. |
| A．The practice of openness fails to continue. |
| B．Curiosity cabinets have been totally removed. |
| C．Not all museum exhibits are accessible to people. |
| D．It’s harder to protect the delicate museum collections. |
| A．Business. | B．Entertainment. | C．Education. | D．Lifestyle. |
【推荐2】Wherever we go, we are surrounded by history. Across the globe, cultural heritage is passed down through the generations. It is in the buildings and structures around us. It is in the arts and artifacts (手工艺品) we treasure. It lives in the languages we speak and the stories we tell. But today, it is under destruction as never before. Not only are the damages of time threatening our cultural heritage, but climate change, globalization and tourism are all demanding a heavy price. Technology is now the most important weapon in the battle. Here’s how technology is preserving our cultural heritage.
As you can imagine, creating the replicas (复制品) by 2 D images is extremely time-consuming. Increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms (算法) allow millions of images to be stored in a matter of hours. AI will also make restoration (修复) and preservation of existing cultural heritage far easier and better than methods before.
Virtual reality (VR) technology will play a leading role in preserving our cultural heritage in the coming years. Many of the most important sites and architecture are easily damaged. The presence of hundreds of thousands of tourists on these locations is doing a great deal of harm. Wastes pile up everywhere, causing serious problems. As more cultural heritage sites and objects are digitally mapped and recorded, VR technology will increasingly become the way that people experience them. We’ll all finally be able to walk through places, look at (and touch) artifacts and works of art without ever seeing them with our own eyes.
Finally, our cultural heritage will be preserved by technology. Efforts in research, data sharing and project work will help promote and preserve the cultural heritage of countries all across the world.
1. According to paragraph 1, cultural heritage_____.| A．will never disappear | B．will under perfect protection |
| C．is faced with challenges now | D．is damaged by modern technology |
| A．It makes restoration easier. | B．It makes preservation safer. |
| C．It creates replicas in seconds. | D．It produces 2D images. |
| A．By burying a huge number of wastes. |
| B．By reducing human influence on the site. |
| C．By preventing visitors from touching artifacts. |
| D．By educating people about the sites’ importance. |
| A．Supportive. | B．Disagreeing. | C．Doubtful. | D．Neutral. |
【推荐3】The popular TV program Readers has prompted more people in China to practice reading aloud in booths (小间) set up in big cities across the country.
As the latest TV show to help people’s love for literature recover, the CCTV program Readers invites people from all walks of life to read aloud their favorite poems, essays and books, or even personal letters they wrote to their loved ones. Just as the weekly show has been wellreceived, its reading booths, equipped with professional recording devices and cameras, have become instant hits.
A crowd of more than 200 people were pictured lining up outside the Shanghai Library at 11 am on March 4—the first day of the booth’s opening to the public in Shanghai. The deadline for registrations was brought forward to 2 pm instead of the scheduled 5:30 pm, as the number of waiting readers continued to grow. Some waited more than nine hours for a tryout in the booth, according to library management.
“There is an old photo in the late 1970s capturing people lining up outside the Shanghai Library before it opens. If that was a spring of reading in Shanghai, now I think another spring has arrived again,” library manager Zhou Deming, told The Paper.
The reading booth is the only one of its kind in the city of economic center at the moment, but more are expected to be put into use in the coming months, according to the library’s website.
The program has also led to booths in other cities including Beijing, Hangzhou, Guangzhou and Xi’an to appeal to more people to read and share their life stories.
With the recent boom of culturethemed TV shows such as Readers and Chinese Poetry Congress, some are optimistic that this will help the country love literature and reading again in general.
1. The CCTV program Readers aims to________.| A．teach people what to read |
| B．attract people’s attention to CCTV |
| C．invite people to read aloud in the booth |
| D．arouse people’s enthusiasm for reading |
| A．some people waited for a long time to read in the booth |
| B．March 4 was the first day of the opening of Shanghai Library |
| C．on March 4, 200 people read in the booth |
| D．the time for registrations was lengthened for three and a half hours |
| A．many people line up to read aloud in reading booths |
| B．more reading booths will be set up in the future |
| C．Readers has become popular all over China |
| D．Readers has inspired more people to read aloud in reading booths |
【推荐1】Suppose you have everything: a good job, good health,good relationships and a lot of money to spend. But still there is something missing from your life. Guess what? The love. It is not something that you should ignore. Life without love is just like body without soul.
Love gives meaning to life as without love life is meaningless. Lucky is the person who gets love and keeps the flames of love burning forever. It is not a matter of days or months. Love is for life and life is for love.
It is easy to fall in love but difficult to keep the flames of love burning. Before having a serious long-term love relationship, be sure that the person you love is also sincere with you. A selfish person can make your life terrible. If this is the case with you,then try to get rid of that person as soon as possible.
Most people do not give importance to their love life as they give importance to their professional life. This is a bad choice which ruins the whole life.A balance between the two is necessary in order to enjoy life in its entirety.Do not lose the love you need.
In order to make your life more exciting and enjoyable, you need a loving and caring person with whom you can share your values, dreams, joys and jokes. In difficult times of failure, pain, or loss of dear ones, this person should stand firmly beside you and comfort you in every possible manner.
Love your life and love the person who is in your life. Keep the flames of love burning to live a great, great life.
1. What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence in the second paragraph?| A．Love is only for life. |
| B．Life is designed only for love. |
| C．Life can’t be separated from love. |
| D．When you have a good life,you can own a real love. |
| A．try to get rid of your bad manners as soon as possible |
| B．make certain that the person you love is also sincere |
| C．try to find out whether the person you love really loves you |
| D．make sure that you treat the person sincerely |
| A．to value everything one has |
| B．to be sincere with the people around |
| C．to live a life full of love all one’s life |
| D．to avoid being a selfish person |
【推荐2】Social media often report concerns like the spread of misinformation, hate speech, and only listening to people that you agree with. That is what we call echo chamber. But how can we really break it apart? One way, make friends, especially friends of another race.
I know most people have few black friends. Many people, many white people, could easily go their whole lives without ever getting to know someone of another race, which requires effort.
Making a new friend is a hard period. Making a friend of another race is harder yet. You don’t have common experience and instant friendship. And, for Black people, going out of our way to make a white friend requires trust. And this is not to say that white people should go seek out strangers or acquaintances (熟人) and say, tell me about your Black experience. Do not do that. That’s not friendship. That’s a trade.
Real friendship means a willingness to listen carefully, and have your views challenged, because your Black friend doesn’t see the world the same way you do. It’s going to require you to do the important work of earning and offering trust, so that, if you make a mistake or misstep, you will have some good will to fall back on. But even before that, it starts with stepping outside your comfort zone. A different social circle isn’t just going to fall in your lap. You’re going to have to think carefully about where you live and where your children go to school, the activities you take part in. That’s because it’s going to be impossible to create a meaningful connection with someone of another race if you’re only around people who look like you. So, these friendships are going to require putting actions behind intentions.
1. What does “it” in the paragraph 1 refer to?| A．Echo chamber. | B．Hate speech. |
| C．Social media. | D．Wrong information. |
| A．most people are willing to make friends of another race |
| B．it is beneficial to make a friend of another race |
| C．friendship with the black needs common experience |
| D．it’s unnecessary for the white to make friends of another race |
| A．Unfavorable. | B．Favorable. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Counting on people alike. |
| B．Laying stress on actions rather than intentions. |
| C．Seeing eye to eye with our Black friends. |
| D．Living with different races. |
Brooks gained fame for several books. His latest book The Social Animal, however, is more ambitious and serious than his earlier books. It is an attempt to deal with a set of weighty topics. The book focuses on big questions: What has science revealed about human nature? What are the sources of character? And why are some people happy and successful while others aren’t?
To answer these questions, Brooks surveys a wide range of subjects. Because of this, you might expect the book to cover a variety of facts. But Brooks has structured his book in an unusual, and perhaps unfortunate way. Instead of introducing scientific theories, he tells a story, within which he tries to make his points, perhaps in order to keep the reader’s attention. So as Harold and Erica, the hero and heroine in his story, live through childhood, we hear about the science of child development and as they begin to date we hear about the theory of sexual attraction. Brooks carries this through to the death of one of his characters.
On the whole, Brooks’s story is acceptable if uninspired. As one would expect, his writing is mostly clear and, to be fair, some chapters stand out above the rest. I enjoyed, for instance, the chapter in which Harold discovers how to think on his own. While Harold and Erica are certainly not strong characters, the more serious problems with The Social Animal lie elsewhere. These problems partly involve Brooks’s attempt to translate his tale into science.
1. The author mentions the functions of science at the beginning of the passage to ________.
| A．show the value of Brooks’s new book |
| B．show where science can be applied |
| C．remind the reader of the importance of science |
| D．explain why many writers use science in their works |
| A．Its clear writing. |
| B．Its convincing points. |
| C．Its strong characters. |
| D．Its strong basis. |
| A．Cautious. |
| B．Critical. |
| C．Contradictory(矛盾的). |
| D．Supportive. |
