1 . An artist in Oakland, California is using his skills to help the homeless. Greg Kloehn builds very small shelters that make life on the streets a little more comfortable. The structures offer the homeless some safety and protection from bad weather. Each little house also has wheels on the bottom so it can go wherever its owner goes.
Greg Kloehn has given away at least 20 tiny houses. Several are on the roadside near an active railroad. On a recent day, Mr.Kloehn stops at one to visit Oscar Young. The two men hug. Inside his little shelter Mr.Young gets relief from cold nights on the streets. Mr.Kloehn also visits SweetPea, another friend who also lives in one of the little homes the artist built. She says it keeps her safe and protects her belongings.
In the mornings, Mr. Kloehn searches the streets for building materials. He gathers what he can and takes it to his studio. There, he puts the houses together. Empty coffee bags become roof material. A washing machine door and refrigerator part become windows. Nails,screws and the sticky glue hold all the pieces together. The artist also attaches a small electrical device to the house. The device is powered by the sun.
Some of the people living on the streets once had normal houses of their own. But some of the people say they have learned to live with less and they are thankful to that man.
Mr.Kloehn says his work is not a social project. He says he is just someone using his skills to help his homeless neighbors.
1. The following are the advantages of the small shelters EXCEPT ________.| A．saving power and energy |
| B．protecting possessions of the homeless |
| C．decorating the streets where they are |
| D．keeping the homeless safe and comfortable |
| A．Greg Kloehn has sold at least 20 tiny houses |
| B．an act of kindness has made people simple and grateful |
| C．the shelters are immovable |
| D．the government has got involved in the action |
| A．an official report |
| B．an art review |
| C．a science magazine |
| D．a news report |
| A．An artist creates homes for the homeless. |
| B．A more comfortable shelter on the streets. |
| C．A successful social project in Oakland. |
| D．An artist makes a living by designing small shelters. |
2 . Despite the lack of new releases due to the outbreak of COVID-19, there was no shortage of good films in 2020. We've rounded out the top 4 films. Check them out!
Soul
In the first Pixar cartoon to have an African-American lead character. Jamie Foxx provides the voice of a music teacher who dreams of making it as a jazz pianist. But just after a successful interview, he falls down a manhole and finds himself in a soul world where human spirits are assigned their personalities. And things get even stranger from there.
Nomadland
When Fern loses her husband and can't afford to live in a house, she packs her few belongings into a camper and drives off into the Nevada desert. She encounters a large community of senior citizens who have also been forced to live on the road, supporting themselves with short-term- jobs along the way. What makes Nomadland unique is that while Fern is played by an Oscar-winning actress, nearly all she meets are real people who relate their own experiences. Written and directed by Chloe Zhao, the film is a combination of documentary and fiction.
The Croods: A New Age
The prehistoric family from 2013's hugely enjoyable cartoon, The Croods, directed by Joel Crawford, makes a welcome return, so we can expect more crazy adventures and unusual animals. In the much-delayed- sequel, they meet another family, the Bettermans, whose advanced lifestyle and technology make the Croods look even more primitive than they did already. There's conflict but they learn to appreciate each other's differences.
Wolfwalkers
The year's finest cartoon film comes from Cartoon Saloon, an Irish studio specialising in stylised hand-drawn 2D art. Its latest production is set in the mid-17th Century, when English soldiers are trying to occupy the wild woods. One hunter's daughter meets with a girl wolfwalker and they make joint efforts to rescue the forest. It's a heartwarming story of friendship and an inspiring adventure about two girls finding themselves Wolfwalkers stands proud as new classic.
1. What is the film Soul about?| A．pianist's dream coming true. | B．A musician's romantic journeys. |
| C．A music teacher's unusual experiences. | D．An African-American actor's success story. |
| A．Soul. | B．Nomnadland. | C．The Croods: A New Age. | D．Wolfwalkers. |
| A．Science. | B．History. | C．Entertainment. | D．Medicine. |
3 . 4 FILMS TO CATCH AT THE CINEMA THIS MONTH!
Eye-opening documentaries, nostalgic mood pieces and fantastic drama are at the heart of our fayorite cinema picks this month. Check them out!
Pain and Glory
Oct. 2— Oct. 14
Inspired by the classic Ottoe Mezzo, Pain and Glory looks at an ageing police officer, Salvador, who recalls his childhood in rural Spain and the life stapes that followed: an energetic youth, a fruitful career and the beginning of decline which brings us to his present state.
Blinded by the Light
Oct. 5—Oct. 18
This unapologetic ode to Bruce Springsteen tells the story of a teenage boy living in 1980s Luton whose life is transformed by The Boss' music. The film about an over-enthusiastic, bright-eyed teenager. Blinded by the Light can be a little too sweet, but if you're a fan of old Bruce, you might just fall head over heels.
The Souvenir
Oct. 10—Oct. 24
This biographical drama from Joanna Hogg is largely based on the director's early years as a film student in 1980s Britain. Our heroine is the goodhearted Julie who falls for the attractive Anthony. As she grows increasingly attached to him, he grows increasingly dependent on her kindness and generosity.
Inna De Yard
Oct. 17—Oct. 31
Join a bunch of pioneering musicians on a journey deep into the heart of Reggae. Starting with its origins in 1960s Jamaica, and dipping into its many examples like Ska and Rocksteady, Inna De Yard offers a lively history of Reggae as well as a charming description of the streets of Jamaica in all their glory.
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1. When can you watch Blinded by the Light in the cinema?| A．Oct. 3rd | B．Oct. 12th | C．Oct. 20th | D．Oct. 25th. |
| A．Pain and Glory. | B．Blinded by the Light. |
| C．The Souvenir. | D．Inna De Yard. |
| A．A poster in a movie theater. | B．A magazine on music history. |
| C．A notice about recent concerts | D．A website recommending films. |
4 . Drive in Ontario
Welcome to Ontario! Here's what you need to know if you are, or will be, visiting Ontario — and want to drive while you're here.
Visiting: less than 3 months
If you are visiting Ontario for less than 3 months and want to drive while you're here, you can use a valid driver's licence from your own province, state or country.
Visiting: more than 3 months
If you will be visiting from another country for more than 3 months, you will need an International Driver's Permit (IDP) from your own country. This is a special licence that allows motorists to drive internationally when accompanied by a valid driver's licence from their country. You need to have this permit with you when you arrive in Ontario. You cannot apply for one once you are here.
Rules of the road
As a visitor, you are responsible for knowing Ontario traffic laws. Here are just some:
• keep to the right of the road
• obey posted speed limits (e.g. 50 km/hour)
• do not use handheld devices while driving (e.g. cell phones, tablets or music players)
• slow down and pull to the right, if an emergency vehicle is driving behind you with their lights and sirens (e.g. an ambulance, fire truck or police car)
If you break a traffic law, you will face a penalty. Penalties range from fines to making your licence invalid or your car taken away. For more information, please click here.
1. l. Who is the text intended for?| A．Potential immigrants. | B．General visitors. |
| C．Exchange students. | D．Ordinary drivers. |
| A．Changing lanes at random. | B．Giving way to fire trucks. |
| C．Listening to music in the car. | D．Driving within the speed limits. |
| A．A local website. | B．A travel guide. |
| C．An advertisement. | D．A geography magazine |
5 . Top 4 Colleges Whose Graduates Earn the Most Money
Who says college isn’t worth it? Graduates of each of these 4 small colleges can look forward to cashing in when they hit the job market.
Amherst College: Amherst, Massachusetts
Average earnings: $82,000
Harvard may be the more selective and well-known university in the state, but it’s Amherst College’s graduates who are pulling in the salary. It’s known as one of the “Little Ivies”. Despite Amherst’s tiny size (2,000 undergraduates in total), its alumni (校友) network is well-connected and involved with the student body, which helps explain why graduates get top job opportunities.
Lafayette College: Easton, Pennsylvania
Average earnings: $81,000
Another Little Ivy, Lafayette College graduates about the same number of students as Amherst each year. Those graduates make nearly as much as Amherst graduates based on Zippia’s research. It’s entirely possible that Lafayette’s success in getting its graduates good jobs is that it’s one of the few liberal arts (文科) colleges of its size that also offer its students engineering degrees.
Helene Fuld College of Nursing: New York, NY
Average earnings: $79,300
Nurses are in very high demand, according to Indeed, and that demand is expected to remain strong. This contributes to the high pay offered to this nursing school’s graduates. So does its location in New York City, where salaries (and the cost of living) are higher.
Bates College: Lewiston, Maine
Average earnings: $75,700
Another small liberal arts college — and Little Ivy — Bates offers, among other things, a small teacher-to-student rate. It is also noted that Bates has one of the most beautiful campuses around, helping draw a highly driven student body.
1. What makes graduates from Amherst College get good jobs?| A．School location. | B．Help from schoolmates. |
| C．Tiny size of the college. | D．School recommendation. |
| A．They have to pay high tuition fees. | B．They need high living costs. |
| C．Nurses are greatly respected. | D．Nurses are in great need. |
| A．Similar earnings. | B．Beautiful campuses. |
| C．The same type of college. | D．The same number of students. |
| A．Fashion & Entertainment. | B．Military & Science. |
| C．Education & Culture. | D．Food & Nutrition. |
6 . Since you can't get to theaters, museums, galleries, music venues or opera houses during these difficult days due to coronavirus, instead they'll come to you. Here's a list of some of Europe's best-known museums.
Louvre Museum in Paris
As the most visited museum in the world, it offers virtual tours online. It also has a number of "Visitors Trails" in different themes, designed to give an overview of the scope and wealth of the museum's collections. Each trail is based on a selection of works that characterize a period, an artistic movement or a theme, including the artworks from JAY-Z and Beyoncé's music video.
Schirn Museum in Frankfurt
It has digitally opened its current exhibition, now closed due to the virus, called "Fantastic Women" (scheduled from February 13 to May 24), highlighting the works of 34 women artists and their contributions to Surrealism (超现实主义), including Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, Leonor Fini, Dorothea Tanning and Dora Maar.
Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam
Are you looking for ways to entertain your children with an educational twist? Then the Van Gogh will bring the great artist to you and also invite you to a virtual visit inside the Museum. The museum explores the painter's life, his relationship with his brother Théo, his passion for Japan and also his mental illness. Everything is in high definition.
Of course, a range of recent opera and ballet productions are also available, with the hope to give pleasure to as many people as possible. Please get more information at www. forbes. com.
1. The works in "Visitors Trails" are chosen according to ________.| A．Periods | B．Collections | C．Sites | D．Artists |
| A．JAY-Z's. | B．Leonardo Da Vinci's. |
| C．Van Gogh's. | D．Leonora Carrington's. |
| A．A report. | B．A website. | C．A magazine. | D．A textbook |
7 . As digital devices （设备）have taken over society, “keyboard activity is now often recommended as a substitute for early handwriting," a new study notes. The idea is that typing may be easier for young children.
“Some schools in Norway have become completely digital," notes Audrey Vander Meer, the new study's leader, who measures brain activity to better understand learning and behaviors. She works at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim. The human brain has developed to interact with the world in as many ways as possible, she notes. She believes that young children should learn to write by hand successfully, and, at the same time learn to manage a keyboard.
Using a pen involves more of the brain than using a keyboard, her new findings show. This is because writing and printing involve complex movements that activate more areas of the brain. The increased brain activity, "gives the brain more 'hooks' to hang your memories on," she explains.
Think about it. The same movement is required to type each letter on a keyboard. By comparison, when we write, our brain needs to think about and recover memories of the shape of each letter. We also need to use our eyes to watch what shapes we're writing. And we need to control our hands to press a pen or pencil to shape the different letters. All of this uses and connects more areas of the brain.
Along the way, these processes appear to “open the brain up for learning", says Vander Meer. So learning through only one format — digital — could be harmful, she worries.
Vander Meer also points out that taking notes by hand stimulates （激发）"visual notetaking". Rather than typing blindly, the visual note-taker has to think about what is important to write down. Then, key words can be "interlinked by boxes, and arrows, and supplemented by small drawings".
1. What is the main idea of the text?| A．Digital devices are popular with students. |
| B．Handwriting beats typing in taking notes. |
| C．The process of taking notes changes thinking. |
| D．The new study makes contributions to science. |
| A．Communicate with the world. | B．Rely on keyboard activity. |
| C．Learn to write by hand. | D．Master basic drawing skills. |
| A．By studying how the brain develops. | B．By observing social phenomena. |
| C．By assessing functions of senses. | D．By comparing ways of taking notes. |
| A．Relationship. | B．Fashion. |
| C．Culture. | D．Science. |
8 . Safety and Security Procedures
Your safety and the security of your personal property are of the primary concern to those of us who welcome you as our guest. We urge you to take advantage of the following suggestions.
YOUR VEHICLE
Lock your vehicle and do not leave money or valuable items inside. We are not responsible for their loss.
TRAVELING
Be observant when sightseeing or traveling. Stay in well-lit and heavily traveled areas. Don’t display large amounts of cash.
GUEST ROOM SECURITY
For additional security use the deadbolt (插锁) provided on your door and make sure the windows are locked. As an additional precaution (预防措施), please secure the secondary locks provided. Do not admit anyone to your room without first making identification. A one-way viewer is provided in your door to assist with identification. If there is any doubt about the person’s identity, please contact the Front Desk.
SAFETY BOXES
Do not leave money or valuables in your room or vehicle. We provide free safety boxes for your use. Hotel is not responsible for items left in room valued over $200.
KEYS
Safeguard your key. Please do not leave it in the door. Do not give your key to others or leave it unattended. Please leave your key at the Front Desk when you check out.
REPORTING
Please report any suspicious activity, or safety concerns to management.
FIRE
Please familiarize yourself with the nearest fire exits. Report fire or smoke to the hotel operator. In the unlikely event of a fire, please move quickly and calmly to the nearest safe exit and leave the building. Avoid the use of elevator.
1. The suggestions are most probably from_________.| A．a hotel manager | B．a police officer |
| C．an experienced traveler | D．a tour guide |
| A．It is advised to travel to places where there are few people. |
| B．The hotel is not responsible for anything you lose. |
| C．Don’t report to the manager unless you are sure something is going wrong. |
| D．You’d better use the deadbolt and the secondary locks for safety. |
| A．let the person in after you have got his/her name |
| B．open the door to check the person’s ID card |
| C．call the Front Desk to make sure |
| D．contact the local police for assistance |
9 . Welcome to the North Pole Adventure
The North Pole Adventure is a one-of-a-kind interactive Christmas attraction for the entire family. Unlike other Christmas attractions, it is open from November 26 until Christmas Eve. It is not a guided tour. While elves (小精灵) are throughout the adventure to interact with your children, your kids can spend as much time in each area as they wish. The adventure features a replica (复制品) of the North Pole including everything you imagine at Santa’s North Pole.
Santa’s House
Kids will experience what it’s like at the North Pole and see first-hand what it takes for Santa and his elves to get ready for Christmas each year. The memories your children will take away from Santa’s House will be ones they will remember for a life time.
Post Office
All kids will be assisted by Santa’s elves in writing a letter to Santa and then depositing it in Santa’s magical mailbox. A few days before Christmas, they will receive letters at their own homes from Santa.
Elf University
Elf University is the place where elves go to school. It’s also the place where kids enjoy making Christmas presents, coloring Christmas pictures, and even filling out applications to become elves one day.
Admission
Buy your tickets online to avoid waiting in line. If the tickets sell out when you buy them online, there will still be tickets available at the ticket office.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．The North Pole Adventure provides visitors with tour guide service. |
| B．The North Pole Adventure arranges elves to entertain kids in some areas. |
| C．The North Pole Adventure is modeled on other Christmas attractions. |
| D．The North Pole Adventure is open to visitors for nearly one month. |
| A．Kids can have fun in Santa’s House by dressing up like Santa. |
| B．Elf University offers kids opportunities for becoming elves. |
| C．Kids who visited Post Office would receive letters on Christmas Eve. |
| D．Tickets to the adventure can be bought online if they sell out at the ticket office. |
| A．A tourist booklet. | B．A science fiction. |
| C．A newspaper. | D．A story book. |
10 . History can be found at every turn and every corner, as you walk on the streets of this architectural marvel of the city, and at Powis Place and Fraser Studios, you are just a short 15-minute walk away from one of the oldest universities in the country. Information about the University of Aberdeen can be found to as far back as 1495, with a beautiful medieval (中世纪的) campus to back up its claims.
All of these make it the fifth oldest university in the whole of the UK, and as a result it has always been a well-regarded higher education establishment. Having been voted the Scottish University of 2019 and ranked in the Top 30 Universities in the UK in 2019, it appeals to people from all over the UK and abroad. With distance learning options, it is an attractive choice to many students. The Sir Duncan Rice Library has perfect views of the entire city and beaches, and the university has one of the largest medical campuses in the whole of Europe.
Aberdeen University Students' Association (AUSA) is home to over 150 societies and hundreds of activities relating to those societies. It ensures that whatever you are interested in you are well served when moving to the city as a student. It is a fantastic way to meet and make new friends with people from all over the world. Within the Association, there is a cafe and a shop, with many food stands providing daily refreshments (茶点) during breaks between lectures and study. There are also plenty of volunteering and training opportunities to take part in, whether you are looking for a hobby, to help others, to present your CV, or all of the above.
The University of Aberdeen certainly holds some reputations, home to five previous Nobel Prize Winners, an internationally-focused university in teaching and research, and even its very own tartan(格子昵) created in 1992 to celebrate the university 's 500th anniversary.
1. How long might be the history of the University of Aberdeen?| A．About 150 years | B．About 300 years |
| C．About 280 years | D．About 500 years |
| A．Participate in various training programmes. | B．Enjoy refreshments at lunch time. |
| C．Appreciate the whole city and beaches. | D．Conduct distance teaching. |
| A．Five scientists won the Nobel Prize in 2019. |
| B．It is the 30th biggest university in Europe. |
| C．It has the largest medical campus in the world. |
| D．It gained the Scottish University of 2019. |
| A．A University brochure |
| B．A travel guideline |
| C．A history textbook |
| D．A government report |
