1 . "For years, we had seen a lot of old villages dying slowly before being torn down. It's such a shame. So I wanted to do something," says Zhang Lei, a professor from the School of Architecture and Urban Planning at Nanjing University.
Zhang's two design works for Librairie Avant-Garde, the Yunxi Library bookshop in Tonglu county's Daijiashan village and Chenjiapu Bookstore in Songyang county, both in East China's Zhejiang province, were opened respectively in 2015 and 2018. The villages have since seen increasing number of visitors. Hostels have been built and, as a result, property prices in the villages have soared. For instance, the annual rent of a house in Daijiashan village was 2,000 yuan ($306) in 2015, but has now grown to 8,000 yuan.
Similarly, Chenjiapu village used to be dying despite a history stretching back 600 years. The bookstore, however, means that holidays bring so many visitors that there are often traffic jams on the road leading to the village. "I never thought that a small bookstore could change the fate of a village," he says.
When Qian Xiaohua, founder of Librairie Avant-Garde headquartered in Nanjing, started opening bookstores in the countryside six years ago, he met with a lot of doubts and questions. After all, bookstores in cities, with much bigger populations, could barely survive due to online competition. Even more surprisingly, Qian prefers targeting old villages that are losing their young people, with just the elderly and children left behind. Those villages are usually located in picturesque surroundings, many with historical details. Qian, accompanied by architects, will then choose old buildings from the villages to be renovated into well-lit modern bookstores that remain true to their original structures and decorative aspects.
Since April 2014, Qian has opened five bookstores in the countryside. All have attracted large numbers of tourists and even young villagers to return home. Apart from their commercial success and subsequent economic revival of the villages, these bookstores have become new public spaces for locals, benefiting the development of rural areas in the long run.
1. What can we know about many old villages from Zhang Lei’s words in paragraph 1?| A．They were booming gradually. | B．They were being deserted. |
| C．They were under construction. | D．They were overdeveloped. |
| A．Risen. | B．Decreased. | C．Changed. | D．Overturned |
| A．Favorable. | B．Interested. | C．Hopeful. | D．Skeptical. |
| A．Old Villages Survive Amazingly | B．Rebuild Traditional Settlements |
| C．Bookstores Rewrite Old Villages | D．Knowledge Changes Villages |
2 . For 21-year-old Malhar Kalambe, weekends are not about hanging out with friends. Instead, they have a different mission — cleaning the Datar Beach. Collectively， they have made such a huge difference to the beach that the United Nations has recognized their contributions.
“Actually the idea stemmed from my vacation to Bali, the clean beach leaving a great impression on me. After returning, I found our beaches in shambles. During a conversation with my mother, I was complaining about how bad our beaches are compared to beaches in Bali, and my mother just said, 'Don't complain, if you care, just go and clean. ? and thus 'Beach Please'," Malhar said. “It began on September 10, 2017 and since then cleaning the garbage on the beach has become a weekend routine. Currently, there are 25 odd volunteers spending our weekends cleaning the beach.”
After cleaning the beach for months, Malhar and his friends realized that it was of a little help and there is no end to this. They needed to contain the source which dumps garbage in the ocean. They found that the Mithi River is being used to dump the industrial waste, construction waste and even domestic waste into the ocean and they decided to also clean the river. Now on Saturday, they clean the Mithi River and on Sunday, they focus on the Datar Beach. In order to make a sustainable （可持续的）difference, they must make people understand that they have to stop dumping garbage into any source. “Awareness, recycling and cleaning up are three steps which can bring a change. I hope people realize it's their duty to keep their surroundings as well as the ocean clean,“ Malhar added.
1. What does the underlined phrase “in shambles” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Damp. | B．Messy. | C．Crowded. | D．Abandoned. |
| A．He likes hanging out with his friends. | B．He encourages his mother to join him. |
| C．He volunteers to clean the Datar Beach. | D．He complains his vacation to Bali to his friends. |
| A．Recycling most of domestic waste. |
| B．Calling for people to make a green trip. |
| C．Raising people's awareness of protecting the ocean. |
| D．Seeking for the source of the ocean pollution. |
| A．Sympathetic. | B．Considerate. | C．Outgoing. | D．Responsible. |
3 . Welcome to the Sydney Opera House
Ticket Info and Guided Tours
Visitors can enjoy the Sydney Opera House foyer for free, but for a more insightful visit, you'll need to book a tour.
There are several different ways to experience the Sydney Opera House, and multiple tours are available including back-stage passes and walking tours.
Tour Type Adult （AUD $ ） Child
Guided Walking Tour $ 42 $ 22
Guided Walking Tour + Dinner $ 73 $ 52
Guided Walking Tour + Tasting Plate $ 82.20 $ 64. 80
Backstage Tour $ 175 $ 175
Opening Hours and the Best Time to Visit
The Sydney Opera House is open year-round with the following opening hours：
● Monday—Saturday ： 9am—8 ： 30pm
●Sunday： 9am—5pm
As for the best time of day, it's recommended to book the earliest Sydney Opera House tour of the day to beat the crowds. To enjoy sunny weather with fewer crowds, try visiting in the shoulder season (October, November, February, or March )
Points of Interest
●The Steps
Before entering the Opera House, take a picture of the building from the steps outside.
●The Sails
Step beneath the sails on a guided tour and enjoy harbor front views.
●The Concert Hall
The Concert Hall is the largest venue with seats for more than 2000 people. It features contemporary live music shows and highly -regarded orchestral (管弦乐的)performances. It is also here that you will find the world's largest mechanical tracker-action pipe organ.
● Opera Bar
After your tour, head to the Opera Bar for a bite to eat or drink in the sun.
● Badu Gili
Badu Gili, which is ‘water light’ in the language of the Gadigal people-takes place most evenings after sunset at 9pm, 9：30pm, and 10pm. The seven-minute display is free to view.
1. How much will a guided walking tour for two adults cost?| A．$ 64. | B．$ 84. | C．$ 128, | D．$ 168. |
| A．9：30 am, a Monday in February. | B．10：00 am, a Sunday in December. |
| C．5：00 pm, a Friday in September. | D．6：00 pm, a Saturday in March. |
| A．A local language. | B．A pipe organ. | C．A light show. | D．A dinning area. |
4 . My brother belongs to a strange group known as birders. Together with his three friends who are likewise into the hobby of birding, they march on landfills, and hike through the wooded lands, each of them armed with a pair of binoculars (双筒望远镜), a digital camera, biscuits, and water. One of them carries a telescope which comes in handy in case they want to take a look at a bird up close.
Understandably, their clothing is light; their shoes are designed for comfort, and they never fail to bring with them hats. Moving at a slow pace, they go in search of birds. And, yes, they carry a field guide --- a manual for identifying birds.
It is interesting to note how my brother and his co-birders go through their hobby: first, they look for a bird (either with the naked eyes or with the help of their binoculars); when they find one, they identify it; they then write it down. In case they are unable to determine the bird’s identity, they search for it in the field guide. If the bird is not in the handbook, they take down notes, make a rough drawing representing the chief features of the bird, or even take a picture of it to be used as a future reference.
A device, called the National Geographic’s Handheld Birds Personal Digital Assistant, is available for those who plan to take up birding in North America. This handy device is a digital field guide containing more than one thousand five hundred visual representations of birds. It has a searchable database of over eight hundred North American bird species.
For those seriously considering birding as a hobby but having second thoughts for fear of catching the terrible bird flu, it is important to know that you can take up the hobby and be safe from the fatal disease if you strictly observe the slogan of birders worldwide: just watch, don’t catch.
1. Which of the following is TRUE about birders?| A．Their clothing is light and they never bring hats with them. |
| B．They carry a telescope to have a close look at the birds. |
| C．After they find a bird, they usually put it into the cage. |
| D．They go to search for birds moving at a rapid pace. |
| A．To take down notes. |
| B．To take pictures of birds. |
| C．To find the correct route. |
| D．To refer to information of birds. |
| A．look for birds |
| B．look at birds closely |
| C．make a drawing of birds |
| D．recognize different birds |
| A．Avoid catching birds. |
| B．Keep away from birds. |
| C．Give up keeping birds. |
| D．Wear protective clothing. |
5 . Every animal species carries unique viruses that have specifically adapted to infecting it. Over time, some of these have jumped to humans — these are known as “zoonotic” viruses.
As the population grows, we move into wild areas, which brings us into more frequent contact with animals we don’t normally have contact with. Thus viruses can jump from animals to humans and they can spread between humans, through close contact with body fluids (体液) like blood or urine.
Because every virus has evolved to target a particular species, it’s rare for a virus to beable to jump to another species. When this does happen, it’s by chance, and it usually requires a large amount of contact with the virus.
Initially, the virus is usually not well-suited to its new host and doesn’t spread easily. Over time, however, it can evolve in the new host to produce variants that are better adapted.
When viruses jump to a new host, a process called zoonosis, they often cause more severe disease. This is because viruses and their initial hosts have evolved together, and the species has time to build up resistance. The new host species, on the other hand, might not have evolved the ability to tackle (应对) the virus. For example, when we come into contact with bats and their viruses, we may develop rabies or Ebola virus disease, while the bats themselves are less affected.
It’s likely that bats are the original source of three recently emerged coronaviruses: SARS-CoV (2003), MERS-CoV (2012) and SARS-CoV-2. All of these jump from bats to humans via an intermediate animal; in the case of SARS-CoV-2, this may have been pangolins (穿山甲), but more research is needed.
1. Why is it rare for a virus to infect another species?| A．The new host can deal with the virus. |
| B．The new species builds up resistance. |
| C．Every virus can’t adapt to the new species. |
| D．Each virus develops to target a specific species. |
| A．The resistance of the old species. |
| B．The ability of the new host species. |
| C．The process of the viral infection. |
| D．The reason for the virus variation. |
| A．SARS-CoV. | B．SARS-CoV-2. |
| C．Not mentioned. | D．MERS-CoV. |
| A．Humans should not move into wild areas. |
| B．Wild animals are actually our best friends. |
| C．A virus can spread from animals to humans. |
| D．A virus can vary to infect another species. |
6 . Jumping Clay
Grades: K-2
Time: 3:25 pm — 4:25 pm Tuesday Jan 16, 23, 30 Feb 6, 3, 27 (No class 2/20)
Explore the Arctic and Antarctic in this creative hands-on workshop! Each student will create their own 3-D Polar display including the landscape and animals such as polar bears, penguins and whales while learning about basic shapes and color mixing. Jumping Clay is an air-drying polymer clay that is 100% safe and non-toxic and completely mess free! Beginners welcome! All materials included. Cost: $90
Vacation Destination
The ERfC Vacation Destination Center is located at Enfield Street school,1318 Enfeild Street. Vacation Destination is open from 7:00 am — 6:00 pm on the following days this school year:
December 26-29, 2020
February 20, 2021
April 9-13, 2021
June 25-29, 2021
A variety of theme-based activities are provided throughout the day and include enrichment and recreational activities such as sewing, sports & games, arts & crafts and science activities. Daily fee: $ 45
ERfC Counselors in Trainning Team for High School Students
Students in grades 9-12 who are looking to develop leadership skills are encouraged to join the ERfC CIT Team. High school students will gain experience working with children in different age groups, discover new strengths, and learn team-building skills. Training is provided and summer opportunities will be available. Contact Melissa Shea atmshea@erfc.us.
Tonight in Thompsonville
Located at St. Patrick’s Hall, 64 Pearl Street, Enfield Join us for a free family dinner and a variety of family fun activities. In addition to a family dinner, evenings include hands-on educational activities designed for parents and children to enjoy together. Community providers attend to share information about health, nutrition, physical activity,education, and other services such as SNAP, Care 4 Kids, early childhood programs and out-of-school time activities.
1. What is the main purpose of Jumping Clay?| A．To guide children to protect wild animals. |
| B．To teach children to use clay materials properly. |
| C．To encourage children to improve their creativity. |
| D．To help children learn about the Arctic and Antarctic. |
| A．December 30, 2020. | B．February 22, 2021. |
| C．April 12, 2021. | D．June 24, 2021. |
| A．Jumping Clay. | B．Vacation Destination. |
| C．ERfC CIT Team. | D．Tonight in Thompsonville. |
7 . I've come back to check on a baby. Just after dusk I'm in a car down a muddy road in the rain, past rows of shackled (戴镣的) elephants, their trunks swinging. I was here five hours before, when the sun was high and hot and tourists were on elephants' backs.
Walking now, I can barely see the path in the glow of my phone's flashlight. When the wooden fence post stops me short, I point my light down and follow a current of rainwater across the concrete floor until it washes up against three large, gray feet. A fourth foot twisted above the surface, tied tightly by a short chain and choked by ring of metal spikes(尖刺). When the elephant tires and puts her foot down, the spikes press deeper into her ankle.
Meena is four years and two months old, still a child as elephants go. Khammon Kongkhaw, her caretaker, told me earlier that Meena wears the spiked chain because she tends to kick. Kongkhaw has been responsible for Meena here at Mactaman Elephant Adventure, near Chiang Mai, in northern Thailand, since she was 11 months old. He said he keeps her on the spiked chain only during the day and takes it off at night. But it's night now.
I ask Jin Laoshen, the Mactaman worker accompanying me on this nighttime visit, why her chain is still on. He says he doesn't know.
Mactaman is one of many animal attractions in and around tourist-crowded Chiang Mai. Meena's life is set to follow the same track as many of the roughly 3,800 captive(被捕获的) elephants in Thailand. When Meena is too old or sick to give rides -- maybe at 55, maybe at 75 she'll die. If she's lucky, She will get a few years of retirement. She'll spend most of her life on a chain.
1. Why does the author decide to come back?| A．She knows a baby is in need of help urgently. |
| B．She wants to feed those shackled elephants. |
| C．She wants to release those shackled elephants |
| D．She wants to check baby elephant Meena. |
| A．The author is scared of walking in the path. |
| B．Meena only has three healthy legs. |
| C．Meena is treated badly and very painful. |
| D．One of Meena's legs is badly broken. |
| A．Indifferent | B．Critical |
| C．Sympathetic | D．Negative |
| A．to appeal to people to care about the fate of those elephants |
| B．to describe those elephants to attract tourists around the world |
| C．to tell readers the story of a baby elephant in Chiang Mai, Thailand |
| D．to tell the reason why the number of elephants is decreasing |
8 . Join us for the opening of the schools of the future exhibition — event
The year is 2035. A group of schoolchildren heads over to a garden for lunch and, after the break, teachers send lessons into headsets (头戴式耳机) worn by students. The wearable tech is able to read body signals to make sure the child is concentrating (全神贯注) and can differentiate the lessons according to how their young charge is getting along. It can also send a full progress assessment (评估) to the teacher.
This is one picture of the future of school life, but how likely is it? Over the past five months, the Guardian Teacher Network has been exploring how schools might develop over the next twenty years and beyond. Our journalists have explored a series of topics from whether computers could replace teachers and how some libraries are breaking with tradition, to the rise of outdoor learning and the forest school revolution. One area that provides much food for thought is the future of school dinners. Journalist Matthew Jenkin has looked back at Jamie Oliver’s campaign against Turkey Twizzlers, deciding that the next hot topics include mealtimes and foods.
We’re now bringing these ideas to life in an exciting exhibition, supported by Zurich Municipal, held at our offices in London. It is free to attend. We’ll be hearing from Liz Sproat, the head of education for Google across Europe, Middle East and Africa.
We’d love for you to join us for a spot of future drinks and food.
Date: Sunday 17 June 2018
Time: 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm
Location: The Guardian, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU
Cost: Free
Speakers: Charles Leadbeater, author and education advisor
Margaret Cox OBE, professor of information technology in education, King’s College London
Tom Sherrington, headteacher, Highbury Grove School
Liz Sproat, head of education, EMEA, Google
1. What does the first paragraph describe?| A．An exhibition program. | B．A picture on the school wall. |
| C．A possible future scene at school. | D．A newly invented high-tech headset. |
| A．It is being held by King’s College London | B．It centres on the future of school life. |
| C．It will be on show worldwide. | D．It is hosted by Liz Sproat. |
| A．A travel guide. | B．An announcement. | C．A school year plan. | D．An educational report. |
9 . If you make list of the world’s top ten most challenging jobs, chances are that being a teacher will not make the cut. But think about the discouraging task millions of educators face each day as they try to shape group of often bad-tempered, wild kids into intelligent, well-rounded individuals. That surely has to be the toughest job in the world, especially given that there is no promotion or bonus awaiting them even if they are wildly successful!
What if these all-important individuals that we often take for granted disappear from our lives? That was what Project Ed and Participant Media’s Teach campaign asked filmmakers of all ages to imagine in their recently-held competition Entitled “A World Without Teachers”, its purpose was to inspire more young people to become teachers. However, the 62 amazing video submissions also serve as a reminder of how horrible things would be if we didn’t have these selfless individuals guiding us through life. What was interesting is that even the youngest participants did not appear to be happy at the idea of not having anybody telling them what to do.
High-school student Savannah Wakefield reflected if art as we know it today would have been different without teachers. Would Monet have discovered his talent for impressionism? Los Angeles-based Miles Horst, who won the 1000 USD prize for the best adult submission imagines a world where teachers are replaced by a “brain box” in his fun lively entry.
Youth category winner Marina Barham’s video represents a fact we all know but often forget. Teachers don’t just teach, they inspire-something that no electronic device, no matter how smart, can do! So the next time you think your teacher is being “mean” for trying to channel you in the right direction, imagine life without him/her. We have feeling it will not appear as rosy!
1. From the passage we can learn that ________.| A．teaching naughty kids is a very discouraging task |
| B．teachers have little influence on kids’ individual development |
| C．a successful teacher has the greatest chance to be promoted |
| D．being a teacher is one of the most challenging jobs in the world |
| A．To attract kids to submit more videos of their teachers. |
| B．To remind students to appreciate teachers’ hard work. |
| C．To expect teachers to devote themselves to their jobs. |
| D．To encourage more people to go into teaching career. |
| A．A world without teachers will be unimaginable. |
| B．The future of teachers’ work appears inspiring. |
| C．Teaching is quite different from other jobs. |
| D．Many people attach more importance to teaching |
| A．A survey of people’s views about teachers. |
| B．The campaign to promote teachers’ status. |
| C．The significance of teachers. |
| D．A competition to win the prize for the best teacher. |
10 . I am an active playgoer and play-reader, and perhaps my best reason for editing this book is a hope of sharing my enthusiasm for the theater with others. To do this I have searched through dozens of plays to find the ones that I think best show the power and purpose of the short play.
Each play has a theme or central idea which the playwright(剧作家) hopes to get across through dialogue and action. A few characters are used to create a single impression growing out of the theme. It is not my intention to point out the central theme of each of the plays in this collection, for that would, indeed, ruin the pleasure of reading, discussing, and thinking about the plays and the effectiveness of the playwright. However, a variety of types is represented here. These include comedy, satire, poignant drama, historical and regional drama. To show the versatility(多面性) of the short play, I have included a guidance play, a radio play and a television play.
Among the writers of the plays in this collection, Paul Green, Susan Glaspell, Maxwell Anderson, Thornton Wilder, William Saroyan, and Tennessee Williams have all received Pulitzer Prizes for their contributions to the theater. More information about the playwrights will be found at the end of this book.
To get the most out of reading these plays, try to picture the play on stage, with you, the reader, in the audience. The houselights dim(变暗). The curtains are about to open, and in a few minutes the action and dialogue will tell you the story.
1. What do we know about the author from the first paragraph?| A．He has written dozens of plays. | B．He has a deep love for the theater. |
| C．He is a professional stage actor. | D．He likes reading short plays to others. |
| A．Stating the plays’ central ideas. | B．Selecting works by famous playwrights. |
| C．Including various types of plays. | D．Offering information on the playwrights. |
| A．Control their feelings. | B．Apply their acting skills. |
| C．Use their imagination. | D．Keep their audience in mind. |
| A．A short story. | B．An introduction to a book. |
| C．A play review. | D．An advertisement for a theater. |
