Among all the different types of journey that people undertake there are also those of a spiritual nature. Some of the trips we do in our lives are purely for pleasure, some are meant to make us stronger, sometimes we travel to explore and learn, and in all of these undertakings we grow and become wiser.
There is a lot we can learn from the land that surrounds us and the best way to acquire that knowledge is by traveling and experiencing. This ancient aboriginal initiation ritual involves exactly this: a long spiritual hike across the native land. Although widely known as “Walkabout,” in later years the ritual has been referred to as “temporary mobility,” because the former is often used as an insulting term in Australian culture.
A young man on Walkabout
Historically speaking, the walkabout is a ceremony of passage in which young (adolescent) Aboriginal Australians undertake a journey that will help “transform” them into adults. The journey is usually made between the ages of 10 and 16. During this journey which can last for up to six months, the individual is required to live and survive all alone in the wilderness.
This is not an easy thing to do, especially not for teenagers. That is why only those who have proven themselves mentally and physically ready are allowed to proceed with the walkabout. Only the elders of the group decide whether it is time or not for the child to do it. The children are not completely unprepared for the journey. During the years before the walkabout, the elders instruct them and give them advice about the ceremony and adult life in general; they have been passed the “secrets” of the tribe, the knowledge about their world.
Aboriginal woman
Those who are initiated in the walkabout are also decorated with body paint and ornaments. Sometimes they are marked with a permanent symbol on their bodies. In some cases, a tooth is removed from the mouth, or the nose or ears of the initiated are pierced. Traditional walk about clothes include only a simple loin cloth and nothing more.
During a walkabout, a young person can sometimes travel a distance of over a 1, 000miles. In order to survive this long hike, the participant in the walkabout must be able to make their own shelter and must be capable of obtaining food and water for themselves.
That means he needs to hunt, catch fish, and also recognize and use edible and healing plants. The initiated youngster must learn to identify plants such as bush tomatoes, Illawarra plums, quandongs, lilly-pillies, Muntari berries, wattle seeds, Kakadu plums, and bunya nuts.
1. What can be referred from the first two paragraphs of the passage?| A．Australians like to engage in all kinds of travel. | B．People can gain knowledge through travel. |
| C．Travel is usually purely for pleasure. | D．Walkabout is a long spiritual journey. |
| A．All young Australians are required to live alone in the wilderness. |
| B．The difficulties they experienced in hiking turned them into adults. |
| C．Walkabout should only be done if they are mentally and physically prepared. |
| D．Walkabout is an unprepared test for the young Aboriginal Australians. |
| A．Identifying directions. | B．Preserving physical strength. |
| C．Planting plants. | D．Hunting and fishing. |
| A．Only people who have experienced torture are qualified to the walkabout. |
| B．Women must decorate themselves with body paint and ornaments. |
| C．To survive, the participants need to acquire certain survival skills. |
| D．Native women are not required to participate in the walkabout. |
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| A．￡36.25 | B．￡31.20 | C．￡ 27.80 | D．￡48.00 |
| A．The tourists can visit Ghost Bus Tours at any time. |
| B．The tourists can visit Kew Gardens at any time between Dec.24 and 26. |
| C．The tourists can visit Kensington Palace at any time on December 25. |
| D．The tourists can visit Hampton Court Palace at any time. |
| A．Kew Gardens. | B．Canary Wharf Experience. |
| C．Hampton Court Palace . | D．Kensington Place. |
| A．It lets tourists have more fun during their visits in London. |
| B．It lets tourists know more about London’s history. |
| C．It shows that there are a lot of unknown secrets in London. |
| D．It shows that ghost stories are popular in London. |
【推荐2】Some places can create strong memories. We often clearly remember important events in our lives and link them with the places where they happened. Many people remember exactly where they were when they heard very good or very bad news. The following are a few special places that are important to Americans who look to the past, but also are thinking of the future.
New Orleans Streetcars
Many American cities once had streetcars, but not anymore.
“First of all, it’s one of the most, the oldest rail lines in the world.
Historic Houses
Historic homes can interest people seeking to connect with the former owners. Barbara Klein tells us about three such homes, including a very simple, white house in Virginia.
This simple house in Winchester, Virginia, opened its doors to the public in August. It was home to singer Patsy Cline, who died at the age of 30.
Patsy’s first cousin, Patricia Brannon, shows the house to visitors.
Havre de Grace
Havre de Grace is a town in the American state of Maryland. This part of Maryland is famous for its wildlife. Hunters use decoys(用于诱捕鸟兽的动物或仿制物)to get ducks and geese to come close enough to shoot. The wooden birds are so highly respected here that Havre de Grace calls itself the decoy capital of the world. It also has a museum with more than 1,000 decoys.
| A．Most of them were hand made. |
| B．And second of all, it’s just part of being part of history. |
| C．I’s convenient, cheap and it gets you where you need to go. |
| D．Yet streetcars have been running in New Orleans for over 150 years. |
| E．It is where a famous singer of the nineteen. fifties and sixties once lived. |
| F．Her childhood memories helped return the house to the condition it was in in the late 1940s. |
| G．Vincenti hopes more young people become decoy carvers so the tradition will continue in Havre de Grace. |
【推荐3】On paper, Joyxee Island sounds like an attractive vacation accommodation. Located in Isla Mujeres Bay, a short distance from the Mexican Caribbean hot spot of Cancun, this private island features swimming ponds, Internet access, a fully functioning bathroom, a rainwater collection system, private beach space, solar power, a three-story home and a total area of 750 square meters.
The island, owned by British artist Richart Sowa, isn’t an island at all, at least not in the typical sense. Joyxee is floating (漂浮) on a man-made base of about 150,000 air-filled bottles held inside large nets. This floating bottom layer is covered with sand and soil. The roots from the island’s mangrove (红树林植物) forest have grown through these nets, providing natural structural strength. Creating this island has been a long process. Joyxee began as a small raft, but has grown into a space that’s large enough to allow Sowa to live a mostly self-sufficient lifestyle.
Joyxee is not Sowa’s first try at a plastic-bottle island. Sowa built Spiral Island on Mexico’s Caribbean coast in the late 1990s. Spiral did not survive Hurricane Emily, though, which struck the Caribbean in 2005. Fortunately, some of the bottle-filled nets were preserved. Sowa used these re-recycled bottles to start Joyxee with the help of local environmentalists who wanted to support his eco-island idea. He decided to place it inside a lagoon (濒海湖) in Isla Mujeres Bay to protect Joyxee from suffering the same misfortune as Spiral Island.
While the media have covered the island as a novelty, Sowa’s statements on his website show that he thinks that his island constructions could be the start of something bigger. “Environmentally, the island is an example of a wind-, solar- and wave-powered living space. Furthermore, the mangroves can clean the air by absorbing CO2. And because such islands are floating, they would not be affected by rising sea levels, flooding or other disasters.” Sowa welcomes guests to Joyxee and also offers tours. For tours, including a return trip to the shore, he requests a “donation of S5 or more.”
1. What do we know about Joyxee?| A．It offers good living facilities. | B．It was designed by volunteers. |
| C．It was built within a short period. | D．It borders the Mexican city of Cancun. |
| A．Adjust the temperatures of the island. |
| B．Serve as the islanders’ food sources. |
| C．Provide structural support for the island. |
| D．Act as the island’s rainwater collection system. |
| A．Being destroyed by a hurricane. | B．Being short of bottle-filled nets. |
| C．Being criticized by environmentalists. | D．Being separated from land by a lagoon. |
| A．To attract more artists. | B．To show off his island. |
| C．To promote the eco-island idea. | D．To draw the media’s attention. |
【推荐1】What would you be without your memories? How important is your ability to remember the past? One would think that understanding how memory works would be a high priority for all people, considering memories form the foundation of our personalities and lives.
The truth, however, is that most people know little about memory. A study by research psychologists Daniel and Christopher asked people questions about memory and then compared their answers with those of experts. The results show how far removed from reality the public’s beliefs about memory are. For instance, to the question “Is there a video camera’ in your head?” 63 percent of people surveyed strongly agreed that human memory “works like a video camera, accurately recording the events.” None of the experts think so.
So how does memory work? I prefer to describe it as an old man siting somewhere deep in your brain. He wants to help, but he doesn’t show you your past. The best he can do is tell you stories. And like all good storytellers, he edits for impact, efficiency, and clarity. He tells you what he assumes you need to know.
Sometimes he may even add a bit of flavor or leave out some things in order to spare you pain or shame. He also makes honest mistakes. Sometimes he just gets confused and leaves out something important. Maybe that special memory of your first kiss in middle school has been infatuated(渗透)with a scene from a movie. It’s not like files on a computer arranged by subject or placed in time order. A memory will be connected to other memories in ways that are not necessarily practical or logical. The brain is a docudrama at best. When you remember, your memory tells your brain a story and much may be lost in transit(运送).
Your memory is not meant to provide recordings of what really happened. And while this can complicate our lives, it works just fine most of the time. We have survived and thrived in large part because our memory worked well enough. Even in our fast-changing world, it still does.
1. What’s the purpose on paragraph 2?| A．To prove that how memory works is the top priority for all people. |
| B．To illustrate that people have little understanding of their memory |
| C．To inform readers that human memory doesn’t work like a video camera. |
| D．To justify that common people’s opinions usually differ from those of experts. |
| A．By giving an example. | B．By using personification. |
| C．By making a comparison. | D．By employing repetition. |
| A．accurate | B．consistent | C．logical | D．active |
| A．A story created by the brain. | B．A film based on experiences. |
| C．A memory adapted from events. | D．An event recorded by the video camera. |
【推荐2】Scientists recently discovered that pictures on cave walls at Creswell Crags are the oldest known in Great Britain. But they didn’t find out in the usual way.
Archaeologists (考古学家) often date cave art with a process called radiocarbon dating. The technique can measure the age of carbon found in charcoal (木炭) drawings or painted pictures. Carbon is an element found in many things, including charcoal and even people. But in this case, there was no paint or charcoal to test. People carved the pictures of animals and figures into the rock using stone tools. The scientists had an “aha!” moment when they noticed small rocks stuck to the top of the drawings. The small rocks must have formed after the drawings were made.
“It is rare to be able to scientifically date rock art,” said Alistair Pike, an archaeological scientist at Britain’s University of Bristol. “We were very fortunate that some of the engravings (雕刻) were covered by stalagmites (石笋).”
When a test proved that the stalagmites formed 12,800 years ago, the scientists knew the art underneath them had to be at least that old. And some of the animals shown are now extinct — another clue that the art is quite old.
The artists came to Creswell Crags. This place is one of the farthest points north reached by our ancient ancestors during the Ice Age. At that time, much of the North Sea was dry, so people could move about more easily.
Some tools and bones found there are 13,000 to 15,000 years old. They show that the travelers hunted horses, reindeer, and arctic hares. Their artwork is similar to art in France and Germany. It tells scientists that the Creswell Crags artists must have had a close connection to peoples several thousand kilometers away — another important evidence of understanding how humans spread out across the world.
1. How did the scientists feel when they found rocks on the top of the drawings?| A．Fairly confusing. | B．Pleasantly surprised. |
| C．Completely satisfied. | D．Extremely proud. |
| A．Some pictures were covered by stalagmites formed long ago. |
| B．The majority of the animals carved into the stone are extinct. |
| C．The cave is one of the farthest points in the world. |
| D．The art was carved into the stone with stone tools. |
| A．How ancient people crossed the North Sea. |
| B．Why some of the animals have died out. |
| C．How humans spread out across the world. |
| D．What ancient people had for food at that time. |
| A．Cave Art About Animals Is Most Beautiful |
| B．Cave Art Is Found In the Usual Way |
| C．Cave Art Turns Out to Be Britain’s Oldest |
| D．Cave Art Has a Great Influence on Britain |
【推荐3】What Is Fear?
Fear is a basic feeling arising when we feel threatened, and can have physical symptoms such as sweaty hands and an increased heart rate.
Fear means growth.
Fear tells us we are moving towards the edge of our comfort zone. We are doing something unfamiliar and learning new skills. This means we are growing, and growth means that once we go beyond the uncomfortable bit, we will be stronger, better and brighter than before!
Things are never as bad as they seem.
In most cases, the thing we fear is never as bad as we think it will be. When we are trying to make a decision to do something new, we lack the perspective to see further than the familiar range.
We are always stronger than we think!
Fear can teach us so much about our personal powers. There is no other feeling like the victory you feel that makes you realize you won.
Fear is part of lift, and doesn’t need to be eliminated.
| A．Face the feeling of fear bravely. |
| B．And everything unfamiliar is scary? |
| C．Catch every opportunity to be successful. |
| D．We don’t need to remove fear from our lives. |
| E．So when you fed fear approaching, say thank you! |
| F．You succeeded, even though not every try is perfect. |
| G．But it can be a useful feeling when it comes to keeping us safe. |
【推荐1】The Ebro Delta, in Spain, famous as a battleground during the Spanish Civil War, is now the setting for a different contest, one that is making rice farmers fight against two enemies: the rice-eating giant apple snail, and rising sea levels. What happens here will have a bearing on the future of European rice production and the overall health of southern European wetlands.
Located on the Mediterranean, just two hours south of Barcelona, the Ebro Delta produces 120 million kilograms of rice a year, making it one of the continent’s most important rice-growing areas. As the sea creeps into these fresh-water marshes, however, rising salinity (盐度) is hurting rice production. At the same time, this sea-water also kills off the greedy giant apple snail, an introduced pest that feeds on young rice plants. The most promising strategy has become to play one enemy off against the other.
The battle is currently being waged on land, in greenhouses at the University of Barcelona. Scientists working under the banner “Project Neurice” are seeking varieties of rice that can withstand the increasing salinity without losing the absorbency that makes European rice ideal for traditional Spanish and Italian dishes.
“The project has two sides,” says Xavier Serrat, Neurice project manager and researcher at the University of Barcelona, “the short-term fight against the snail, and a mid- to long-term fight against climate change. But the snail has given the project greater urgency.”
Originally from South America, the snails were accidentally introduced into the Ebro Delta by Global Aquatic Technologies, a company that raised the snails for fresh-water aquariums (水族馆) but failed to prevent their escape. For now, the giant apple snail’s presence in Europe is limited to the Ebro Delta. But the snail continues its march to new territory, says Serrat. “The question is not whether it will reach other rice-growing areas of Europe, but when.”
Over the next year and a half investigators will test the various strains of salt tolerant rice they’ve bred. In 2018, farmers will plant the varieties with the most promise in the Ebro Delta and Europe’s other two main rice-growing regions along the Po in Italy, and France’s Rhone. A season in the field will help determine which, if any, of the varieties are ready for commercialization.
As an EU-funded effort, the search for salt-tolerant varieties of rice is taking place in all three countries. Each team is crossbreeding a local European short-grain rice with a long-grain Asian variety that carries the salt resistant gene. The scientists are breeding successive generations to arrive at varieties that incorporate salt tolerance but retain about 97 percent of the European rice genome (基因组).
1. Why does the author mention the Spanish Civil War at the beginning of the passage?| A．It has great impact on the lives of Spanish rice farmers. |
| B．It is of great significance in the records of Spanish history. |
| C．Rice farmers there are engaged in another kind of battle of similar importance. |
| D．Rice farmers there are experiencing the hardships of wartime. |
| A．Striking the weaker enemy first. | B．Killing two birds with one stone. |
| C．Eliminating the enemy one by one. | D．Using one evil to fight against the other. |
| A．It can survive only on southern European wetlands. |
| B．It will invade other rice-growing regions of Europe. |
| C．It multiplies at a speed beyond human imagination. |
| D．It was introduced into the rice fields on purpose. |
| A．Cultivating ideal salt-resistant rice varieties. |
| B．Increasing the absorbency of the Spanish rice. |
| C．Introducing Spanish rice to the rest of Europe. |
| D．Popularizing the rice crossbreeding technology. |
【推荐2】One day your pocket might power your smartphone. Soon you may never have to worry about your smartphone running out of juice. Your clothing will simply power it back up for you. That's the word from scientists at China's Chongqing and Jinan Universities in a study just published in the journal ACS Nano.
Researchers have been hard at work during the last few years trying to create wearable energy, or clothes that can charge things. The assumption is simple. People today rely heavily upon devices such as smartphones and tablets. And they're looking for ways to recharge these devices on the go. So if you could design clothing fabric that could make use of solar power--one of the most widely available and inexhaustible（用不完的）renewable energy sources-you'd be able to charge your various devices with ease.
Scientists have had some past success creating energy-harvesting fibers. But there was always one problem when they tried to fashion these threads into self-powered smart clothes: The fibers they designed got damaged during the clothing manufacturing process, namely during the weaving and cutting. The Chongqing and Jinan University scientists say they've solved this problem because the energy-collecting and energy-storing threads they created are highly flexible--each individual thread is easily bendable, and not simply the fabric as a whole.
The team's sample textile can be fully charge to volts in 17 seconds by exposure to sunlight—enough voltage that your future smart T-shirt or smart dress might be able to power small electronics. I's durable, too; their research showed there was no decrease in the fabric after 60 days. But don't worry that this means the fabric is similar to rough cloth. The scientists note their textile can be fashioned into numerous different patterns, and tailored into any designed shape, without affecting performance.
1. What does the underlined phrase "running out of juice" in Paragraph I mean?.| A．Being lacking in energy. | B．Wanting to have some juice. |
| C．Being picked out of a drink. | D．Having some water running out. |
| A．Optimistic. | B．Pessimistic. |
| C．Neutral | D．Doubtful. |
| A．persuade readers to buy new clothes |
| B．inform readers of the ways to use their devices |
| C．introduce new wearable energy to readers |
| D．remind readers to wear smart clothes |
【推荐3】Used electronics are piing up fast: they are filling up landfills with dangerous pieces of waste. Some e-waste is relatively large, such as air conditioners; other e-waste is more unnoticed, such as smart labels that contain disposable batteries and other equipment.
“It’s these small batteries that are big problems,” says University of California, Irvine, public health scientist Dele Ogunseitan, who is a green technology researcher and adviser for major tech companies and was not involved in developing the battery. “Nobody really pays attention to where they end up.” Researchers at the Cellulose & Wood Materials Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology are working to address this problem. Their new paper describes a water-activated paper battery developed from environmentally friendly materials that could eventually present a sustainable alternative to the more harmful batteries common in low-power devices.
The paper battery has the same key components as standard batteries but packages them differently. Like a typical chemical battery, it has a positively charged side and a negatively charged side. A traditional battery’s components are covered in plastic and metal; in the new battery, however, the positively and negatively charged sides are inks printed onto the front and back of a piece of paper. That paper is filled with salt, which dissolves (溶解) when the paper becomes wet. When the paper is dry, the battery is shelf-stable. Once the paper is wet, the battery starts working within 20 seconds. The new battery’s operating performance declines as the paper dries. When the scientists rewet the paper during testing, the battery regained function and lasted an hour before beginning to dry out again.
That future may not be so far off. It is hard to predict a time line for manufacturing such items at scale, but the head of the study says he is in contact with potential industry partners and believes these batteries could make their way into products within the next two to five years.
1. Why is e-waste mentioned in paragraph 1?| A．To introduce the topic. | B．To give people warning. |
| C．To show the seriousness of it. | D．To call on people to take action. |
| A．Objective. | B．Carefree. | C．Indifferent. | D．Concerned. |
| A．The difference between the paper battery and the traditional battery. |
| B．The working principle of the paper battery. |
| C．The problem of the paper battery. |
| D．The advantage of the paper battery. |
| A．Paper battery: Is it far off? |
| B．Paper can work wonders. |
| C．Paper battery: A creative way to reduce e-waste. |
| D．Let’s work together to fight e-waste. |
