1 . After-hours events in 2020
Join us after hours for a special programme of unique events throughout 2020 at Shakespeare’s Birthplace. When the crowds have left and our beautiful buildings are quiet, we invite you to try something different.
The Art of Design with Lee Lapthorne – 9 March
Join artist Lee Lapthorne for a private evening when he will show two pieces of furniture inspired by our collections and discuss his process of reinventing pieces of furniture to create something new.
Venue (举办地点): The Shakespeare Centre
Poetry with Punch – 8 June
Come and meet Matt Windle, the “Poet with Punch” and Birmingham’s Poet Laureate 2016 – 2018 for a unique workshop, full of tips and advice to help you get your poetry moving. Suitable for beginners, this workshop will get you thinking about taking the next steps to create writing!
Tickets: £10 per adult
Venue: The Shakespeare Centre
Over Throne – 9 November
The frequent changing of rulers is nothing new. Join us for an evening of performance and discussion as we take a look at the bad rulers that were overthrown in Shakespeare’s plays. This is hosted by our Senior Lecturer in Shakespeare Studies, Dr. Anjna Chouhan.
Tickets: £10 per adult
Venue: The Shakespeare Centre
Herbs for Health – 12 October
Growing in the Hall’s Croft garden are the secret recipes to natural good health. Find out more about the medicine used by the Tudors that still influences our well-being ( 康 乐 ) today. Using herbs and sharing recipes, you will learn the theories behind natural medicine. Reserve your spot before availability.
Tickets: £10 per adult Venue: Hall’s Croft
1. When can you see the reinvented furniture?| A．On 12 October. | B．On 8 June |
| C．On 9 November. | D．On 9 March. |
| A．Enjoy a performance. | B．Learn to be a lecturer. |
| C．Visit the Hall’s Croft garden. | D．Perform in Shakespeare’s plays. |
| A．Poetry with Punch. | B．Herbs for Health. |
| C．Over Throne. | D．The Art of Design with Lee Lapthorne. |
As many as two-thirds of the city’s 21 million residents live in slums. “Most girls are trapped in a terrible cycle of poverty. Many of them are not thinking of education, a plan for the future,” Abisoye Ajayi-Akinfolarin, a computer programmer in Lagos, recalls. But several times a week, girls like Okpoe get a glimpse of another world when they attend GirlsCoding, a free program run by the Pearls Africa Foundation that seeks to educate and excite girls about computer programming. Since 2012, the group has helped more than 400 disadvantaged girls gain the technical skills and confidence they need to transform their lives.
It’s the vision of Ajayi-Akinfolarin, who left a successful career to devote herself to this work. She'd noticed how few women worked in this growing field-a 2013 government survey found that less than 8% of Nigerian women were employed in technology jobs. She wanted to fix the gender gap. “Technology is a space that’s dominated by men. Why should we leave that to guys?” she said. “I believe girls need opportunities.”
Now, dozens of girls aged 10 to 17 get trained in computer programming technology. “I believe you can still find diamonds in these places,” Ajayi-Akinfolarin said. “They need to be shown another life.” One way her program does this is by taking the students to visit tech companies — not only showing them what technology can do, but also helping them visualize themselves joining the industry.
Okpoe, for one, has taken this to heart. She helped create an app called Makoko Fresh that went live this summer, enabling fishermen like her father to sell seafood directly to customers. She even wants to become a software engineer and hopes to study computer science at Harvard. “One thing I want my girls to hold onto is, regardless of where they are coming from, that they can make it,” Ajayi said. “They are coders. They are thinkers. Their future is bright.”
1. What can we learn about GirlsCoding?| A．It encourages girls to land a job in education. |
| B．It offers Nigerian girls in need part-time jobs. |
| C．It helps girls working in Lagos to fight poverty. |
| D．It teaches girls in Makoko computer programming. |
| A．Men could do far better in technology jobs. |
| B．Girls should get equal work opportunities. |
| C．Men normally got paid more than women. |
| D．Girls tended to devote themselves to work. |
| A．Rebuilding the girls’ confidence. |
| B．Training the girls to find diamonds. |
| C．Presenting a different life to the girls. |
| D．Taking the girls to technology companies. |
| A．She got fishermen to benefit from her app. |
| B．She was admitted to Harvard University. |
| C．She took her father’s suggestion to heart. |
| D．She made some changes to computer science. |
3 . Luke is a cute dog, living together with me for five years. We get lots of
Somehow, Luke rushed toward the forest. There was no longer any hope at that moment to wait for Luke to come back to the
| A．rain | B．sun | C．noise | D．fires |
| A．damaged | B．removed | C．changed | D．treated |
| A．made | B．caught | C．set | D．burned |
| A．forest | B．house | C．area | D．shelter |
| A．lost | B．died | C．appeared | D．remained |
| A．warned | B．reminded | C．informed | D．promised |
| A．buried | B．trapped | C．controlled | D．swallowed |
| A．immediately | B．slightly | C．approximately | D．particularly |
| A．Since | B．Unless | C．When | D．Until |
| A．call | B．shout | C．voice | D．sound |
| A．understood | B．recognized | C．treated | D．realized |
| A．recorded | B．noticed | C．followed | D．wanted |
| A．fireman | B．doctor | C．farmer | D．teacher |
| A．save | B．raise | C．protect | D．hate |
| A．fun | B．enormous | C．little | D．risky |
4 . Following the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), also named COVID-19 by WHO, there is a general fear of the unknown virus as its full effects remain to be seen. Fever, coughing, sore throat, difficulty breathing —the NCP’s symptoms are similar to the common cold or the flu, but it’s potentially more dangerous.
Viruses could be deadly, like HIV and Ebola. But what are viruses? How can they cause so much trouble?
Viruses are non-living organisms (有机体) approximately one-millionth of an inch long. Unlike human cells or bacteria, they can’t reproduce on their own. Instead, they invade the cells of living organisms to reproduce, spread and take over.
Viruses can infect every living thing – from plants and animals down to the smallest bacteria. For this reason, they always have the potential to be dangerous to human life. Sometimes a virus can cause a disease so serious that it is fatal. Other viral infections trigger no noticeable reaction.
Viruses lie around our environment all of the time, waiting for a host cell to come along. They can enter our bodies by the nose, mouth, eyes or breaks in the skin. Once inside, they try to find a host cell to infect. For example, HIV, which causes AIDS, attacks the T-cells of the immune system.
But the basic question is, where did viruses first come from? Until now, no clear explanation for their origin exists. “Tracing the origins of viruses is difficult”, Ed Rybicki, a virologist (病毒学家) at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, told Scientific American, “because viruses don’t leave fossils and because of the tricks they use to make copies of themselves within the cells they’ve invaded”.
However, there are three main hypotheses (假说) to explain the origin of viruses. First, viruses started as independent organisms, then became parasites (寄生者). Second, viruses evolved from pieces of DNA or RNA that “escaped” from larger organisms. Third, viruses co-evolved with their host cells, which means they existed alongside these cells.
For the time being, these are only theories. The technology and evidence we have today cannot be used to test these theories and identify the most plausible explanation. Continuing studies may provide us with clearer answers. Or future studies may reveal that the answer is even murkier (含糊不清的) than it now appears.
1. What can we learn about viruses from the text?| A．Viruses have nothing to do with the common cold. |
| B．Viruses are really small living organisms. |
| C．Viruses can’t reproduce unless they find a host cell. |
| D．Viruses enter our bodies mainly through the mouth, nose and hair. |
| A．They evolved from the fossils of large organisms. |
| B．They evolved from parasites into independent organisms. |
| C．They evolved from the T-cells in animals. |
| D．They evolved along with their host cells. |
| A．reasonable | B．common |
| C．creative | D．unbelievable |
| A．Viruses live longer in human host cells than in animals’. |
| B．Viruses will become more like bacteria as they evolve. |
| C．It may take a long time to understand the origin of viruses. |
| D．The author is optimistic about future virus research. |
5 . Italy and China has agreed to jointly advance the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) (一带一路), which aims to build a trade and infrastructure network to connect Asia with Europe and Africa along ancient trade routes. Italy will use this opportunity to cooperate with China to develop its northern ports and the InvestItalia program, and promote cooperation in all fields.
Despite some skepticism, the BRI has developed into one of the world’s largest cooperation platforms and become a hot public good. More than 120 countries and 29 international organizations have signed agreements with China up to date, bringing all sorts of development opportunities to parties of the BRI, including the construction of Kenya’s first high-speed expressway, the first cross-sea bridge in the Maldives, and the formation of the car industry in Belarus.
The inclusion of Italy into the BRI makes Italy the first G7 country to formally join the Initiative, and sets a new milestone in the process of building the Belt and Road.
What makes the BRI unique is that it is an initiative for win-win cooperation rather than zero-sum competition. As everyone knows, the BRI has its origin in the ancient Silk Road trade route that linked China with many places in the world, including the Italian cities of Rome and Venice. Italy is a natural fit for the ambitious project because of its historical connections with China, and also because of the need to be open rather than closed, to cooperate rather than confront. In this fast-changing world, seeking win-win progress is the best path forward for all countries.
In China, it is said that without a big breakthrough in thinking, there will be no big leap in practice; and without a big leap in practice, there will be no great development. A number of Chinese ideas and initiatives have been formed with the goal of building a community of common destiny in mind. Under the BRI, we can expect China to deepen policy coordination, facilities connectivity, free trade, financial integration, and people-to-people bonds.
The revival of China as a great power is a blessing to the world, contributing to the building of a better world.
1. How does the author develop the second paragraph?| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By reasoning and analyzing. | D．By describing important events. |
| A．China has become a superpower. |
| B．China puts others’ interests before its own. |
| C．China has been seeking development for all. |
| D．China is well-known for its traditional ideas. |
| A．Only one participant will win. |
| B．None of the participants will win. |
| C．All participants will gain something. |
| D．Some participants will win at the cost of others. |
| A．The revival of China as a great power |
| B．Construction along ancient trade routes |
| C．A milestone in building BRI has beenset |
| D．Italy and China reached an agreement on BRI |
6 . Last year saw one of the poorest salmon returns on record in North America. Yet, we are eating more fish than ever before. Aquaculture (水产养殖) production has tripled in the last two decades to meet this need, and another historic move was made by the FDA earlier this year, when a company received the first ever nod to sell a genetically modified salmon, a bioengineered version of the Atlantic salmon.
US-based AquaBounty, the firm which received the go-ahead, said it would begin stocking fish in supermarkets ''as soon as possible''. The first commercial harvest is expected at the end of 2020. At the moment, Argentina, Brazil and China have also granted environmental approvals for genetically modified fish farming trials.
This genetically modified salmon is actually a fish injected with the DNA of two other edible fish. The long road to the current version of the GM fish began in the 1980s when a physiologist named Garth Fletcher read about the work being done to genetically modify mice and wondered whether it could apply to salmon. He understood that the fish's growth hormones are most active in some seasons and considered changing this so that the hormones are always active. Cut to 2019, Fletcher's GM fish is able to reach adult size in 16 to 18 months, compared with 30 months for natural Atlantic salmon, while consuming 25% less feed.
In the United States, Atlantic salmon is endangered, so catching it is heavily restricted. It is currently imported from Chile, Norway and Canada. If the production and sales of AquaBounty go as planned, this will all change. And simultaneously, the company claims that farming the fish in their land-based hatcheries will lower the transportation cost as well as emissions associated with importing the fish as is currently done.
This has not all been without stiff opposition, and protestors who have sent nearly 2 million comments to the FDA have had issues on three main fronts. Health risks, being the main one, as it has been with several other genetically modified foods in the past. The environmental group Earth Action says no one can predict what will happen when people start eating the fish over time.
1. What can we learn about AquaBounty?| A．It is a firm located in Argentina. |
| B．It performs research into GM fish. |
| C．It deals with the production and sales of fish. |
| D．It is the only firm allowed to produce GM fish. |
| A．it has proved to have no health risks |
| B．it costs 25% less than imported salmon |
| C．it can meet people's ever increasing need |
| D．it grows faster than natural Atlanticsalmon |
| A．fish markets will be seriously disturbed |
| B．GM food has potential health problems |
| C．GM salmon may not be up to the standard |
| D．the environmental group Earth Action will not be satisfied |
| A．the nod to sell a GM salmon |
| B．the lower cost of GM salmon |
| C．the prediction about what will happen |
| D．the import of salmon from Chile, Norway and Canada |
7 . It would be nice if eating a particular food could magically protect you against all the boring illnesses. It’s not that simple, of course. Hand washing remains your best defense against picking up illnesses, and sleep is a strong defense too. But what you eat does play an important part. Though it isn’t because of just one or two foods, what you eat in your daily diet have an effect on how weak or strong your immunity(免疫力)is.
We’d better eat fruits and vegetables every day. They contain key vitamins needed in the immune system. For example, Vitamin C and Ain foods help immune system work well to keep us healthy. Remember that eating the actual fruit or veggie is better than eating single-vitamin supplements(补品).
Getting too little protein(蛋白质) can weaken your immune system. Protein-rich foods supply the amino acids(氨基酸)you need to build important proteins in the body. Animal foods like beef and pork also contain zinc(锌), which your body uses to make t-cells.
Fermented foods are foods that are naturally protected by bacteria(细菌), and they’re good for the micro biome(微生物).That’s the name for the bacteria that live in your stomach, where a lot of cells in immunity actually live. Fermented foods like yogurt help beneficial bacteria develop fast in the stomach, leaving less room for harmful bacteria.
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us?| A．Hand washing is necessary. | B．Illnesses make people bored. |
| C．Immunity has much to do with your diet. | D．More sleep does good to health. |
| A．They are rich in vitamins we need. |
| B．Vitamin A is helpful for immunity. |
| C．Fruits supply our body with Vitamin C only. |
| D．Eating single-vitamin foods does little good. |
| A．Amino acids can help to make t-cells. |
| B．Healthy body needs plenty of protein. |
| C．The immune system can be hurt easily. |
| D．We should eat animal foods as many as possible. |
| A．Different foods have different uses. |
| B．Fruits and vegetables keep us healthy. |
| C．Many illnesses do harm to the immunity. |
| D．Proper daily diet protects our immune system. |
8 . Najib is an Afghan who grew up in Iran. He led a tough life. When he found his children would be in the same situation, his family initially returned to Afghanistan. But with the country filled with conflicts, they decided to leave for Indonesia.
“When we first came here, we were in a bad situation. Its language, culture and even weather were different. We had moved away from friends and family,” says Najib. “I was in a tough position but I acted strong because there were no other choices.”
Refugees (难民) cannot work in Indonesia and there are limited choices for refugee children to attend local schools. Determined to avoid such a fate, a group of refugees in Puncak took action and scraped together (东拼西凑) their resources to set up a school—the Refugee Learning Center (RLC).
“Our only goal and task is to provide basic education, and prepare the refugee children for their future,” says Abdullah Sarwari. “We’re also trying to provide a normal life as much as possible for them.”
The RLC has also started offering Bahasa Indonesia classes to the refugee community. “Between the refugee and the local community, I feel like there’s a language barrier which stops the refugee from having an honest and open interaction with Indonesians,” says Abdullah.
“If you try your best, to learn the language of a particular place or country, it really helps make things easier,” says Najib. He is among those who signed up for classes, although he admits progress has been slow. But life has improved in some ways for him and his family.
Najib says, “The centre is an opportunity for refugee to show that they are not a burden. If they have the opportunity, they can accomplish big and great things like this.”
1. Why did Najib decide to leave for Indonesia?| A．To escape the conflict in Afghanistan. |
| B．To experience Indonesian culture. |
| C．To help refugees in Indonesia. |
| D．To get equal rights to vote. |
| A．To help them learn English. |
| B．To make them stay away from bad luck. |
| C．To provide them with chances to live in Indonesia. |
| D．To make them have access to receiving basic education. |
| A．He is the leader of refugees. |
| B．He founded the RLC himself. |
| C．He studies Indonesian in the RLC. |
| D．He lives a wealthy life in Indonesia. |
| A．The Goal of Founding a School |
| B．A School for Refugees by Refugees |
| C．A Reason for Leaving for Indonesia |
| D．The Benefit of Learning a New Language |
9 . Graham Moore is the best-selling author of The Sherlockian and the screenwriter of The Imitation Game. His new book The Last Days of Night is out now. He is talking about some of his favorite books.
Murder in Three Acts
BY AGATHA CHRISTIE
My mother is a crime fiction（侦探小说）lover and，when I was having trouble learning to read, we’d sit in my bed at home in Chicago and take it in turns to read a paragraph. It was the first book I read cover-to-cover and I later became a writer because of that experience. Not only did it give me a love of crime fiction but, more importantly, it taught me that reading can be a shared experience.
Cryptonomicon
BY NEAL STEPHENSON
This book showed me that historical fiction need not be dry, but can be lively and enjoyable. Stephenson asks readers to take science seriously, but writes the story in a funny way. I’d long known of Alan Turing, but Stephenson’s technique (手法）of describing him was surprising; I saw how a writer can bring a real person to life for modern readers.
A Visit from the Goon Squad
BY JENNIFER EGAN
Egan uses a technique that I drew on when writing The Imitation Game. She tells stories from different voices and times, and uses many styles that say to readers, “I’ve done a lot of work, but now you have to join in and work it out for yourselves.”
With my latest book, my greatest hope is that readers will want to get other people discussing the book. I’ve just started the conversation.
1. What influenced Moore to be a writer?| A．Reading crime fiction in secret. | B．Having trouble learning to read. |
| C．Reading a book with his mother. | D．Writing stories at a young age. |
| A．Boring. | B．Serious. |
| C．Imaginative. | D．Humeorous. |
| A．Write her some letters. | B．Think for themselves. |
| C．Tell their own stories. | D．Ask her some questions. |
10 . Do astronauts get space sick when they travel from Earth to the International Space Station (ISS)? Yes, astronauts can get space sick travelling to the ISS. It is less likely travelling in the cramped (拥挤的) Russian Soyuz spacecraft used to transport astronauts there now, than the old Space Shuttle that was used until 2011. The ability to move around in the Space Shuttle increased the chance of space sickness happening.
As you probably know, gravity is lower inside the ISS. The low gravity in space allows astronauts to float around, which looks like fun, but it can help cause space sickness.
Recent experiments show that space sickness is related to our inner ear. Two separate parts of the inner ear respond to sudden changes in direction. If you shake or move your head very quickly, you can get dizzy. However, this normally passes very quickly. This normal response is upset under low gravity: your inner ear thinks you are constantly moving. It takes some time to adapt to the new condition of weightlessness. It is made worse if you move your head while your body is still adapting. This is why previous astronauts travelling in the larger Space Shuttle were likely to suffer from space sickness more than the current astronauts travelling in the cramped Soyuz spacecraft. The astronauts were less likely to move their heads around very much in a narrow space.
Space sickness was not talked about in the early space missions (任务).The original Mercury and Gemini spacecraft were, like the current Soyuz, cramped. The astronauts were less likely to get sick, so space sickness no longer became a concern of NASA.
In 1983 the first detailed study was carried out aboard a Space Shuttle flight (STS-7) by astronaut-doctor Norm Thagard. His and all later studies were hampered by the astronauts themselves. None of them wanted admit to being space sick. They were worried that mission control might remove them from space walking opportunities, or even worse, that they might not get included on later space missions.
1. What was the problem with the Space Shuttle?| A．It was too slow. |
| B．It was too small. |
| C．It broke down often. |
| D．It had too much space. |
| A．It fools their inner ear. |
| B．It causes pain in their head. |
| C．It stops them shaking their head. |
| D．It prevents them measuring their weight. |
| A．The condition had been kept secret to the public. |
| B．There were few detailed studies on it. |
| C．The old spacecraft were better equipped. |
| D．The astronauts were less likely to get sick. |
| A．Changed. | B．Improved. |
| C．Blocked. | D．Compared. |
