Language Days at the United Nations seek to celebrate multilingualism (多语言) and cultural diversity as well as
The date for the Chinese day was selected from Guyu, which is the
Chinese was established as an official language of the United Nations in 1946. However, in early
In
2 . Why did humans evolve to walk upright? Perhaps because it’s just plain easier. Make that “energetically less costly,” in science-speak.
Bipedalism — walking on two feet — is one of the defining characteristics of being human, and scientists have debated for years how it came about. In the latest attempt to find an explanation, researchers trained five chimpanzees to walk on treadmill while wearing masks that allowed measurement of their oxygen consumption. The chimps were measured both while walking upright and while moving on their legs and knuckles. That measurement of the energy needed to move round was compared with similar tests on humans and the results are published in this week’s online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
It turns out that humans walking on two legs use only one quarter of the energy that chimpanzees use while knuckle-walking on four limbs. And the chimps, on average, use as much energy using two legs as they did when they used all four limbs.
However, there were differences among chimpanzees in how much energy they used, and this difference corresponded to their different gaits and anatomy. One of the chimps used less energy on two legs, one used about the same and the others used more, said David Raichlen, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona.
“What we were surprised at was the variation,” he said in telephone interview. “That was pretty exciting, because when you talk about how evolution works, variation is the bottom line, without variation there is no evolution.”
Walking, on two legs freed our arms, opening the door to manipulating the world, Raichlen said. “We think about the evolution of bipedalism as one of first events that led hominids down the path to being human.”
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the L. S. B. Leakey Foundation.
1. The underlined word “Bipedalism” means .A.moving sideways | B.walking upright |
C.walking on four legs | D.running fast |
A.Masks protect chimpanzees from any harm. |
B.Masks help chimpanzees walk steadily. |
C.There was heavy smoke in the room. |
D.Masks helped to measure how much oxygen chimpanzees consumed. |
A.have no idea on how human walking on two legs came about |
B.have had different views on why chimpanzees walk on four legs |
C.have had different views on how human walking on two legs came about |
D.have had similar views on how human walking on two legs came about |
A.How did chimpanzees save energy? | B.Why didn’t chimpanzees walk on two legs? |
C.David Raichlen researched into chimpanzees. | D.Different chimpanzees consume different energy. |
A.conserve energy | B.differ from other animals |
C.free their brains | D.strengthen their legs |
3 . Sometimes, we need a little help and get back to a state of mindfulness when it comes to taking care of our physical and mental health. Wellness vacations are on the rise.
■ Ketanga FitnessWhen: April 6 — 10
Where: Phoenix, Arizona
What: Sweat it out surrounded by the red rocks of Arizona’s desert. P.E. Club owner Nedra
Lopez leads a mixture of high and low intensity workouts in the mornings and evenings. During breaks, guests will have plenty of time to explore the desert. After your last workout class, you can hit the town for dinner and drinks.
■ Rksolid Retreat
When: April 15 — 22
Where: Oahu, Hawaii
What: What better excuses to relax yourself in Hawaii than a retreat led by Barry’s Bootcamp star Rebecca Kennedy? During your week-long journey to Oahu, you’ll surf, climb waterfalls, and hike the Stairway to Heaven trail. In between all those workouts, Kennedy creates a special stretch and recovery class so you won’t skip a beat next day.
■ Wellness Immersion
When: August
Where: Amanbagh, India
What: The Amanbagh hotel offers 4-21 day programs focusing on immersion courses that focus on relieving stress from people’s body. Activities include hikes overlooking beautiful gorges, yoga and meditation sessions, and meals made with organic, locally harvested produce.
■ Mile High Run Club
When: August 18 — 28
Where: Reykjavik, Iceland
What: After landing in Reykjavik, runners can work towards their best time in the annual marathon, half marathon, or 10K. After a race, you’ll soothe your muscles in the geothermal Blue Lagoon spa and hit the ground running again with guided runs through Thorsmork National Park. Do we even have to mention Skaftafell’s crazy glacier views?
1. Which vacation will you choose if you want to visit desert?
A.Rksolid Retreat. | B.Ketanga Fitness. |
C.Wellness Immersion. | D.Mile High Run Club. |
A.Go surfing. | B.Climb waterfalls. |
C.Hike the Stairway to Heaven trail. | D.Attend a special stretch and recovery class. |
A.enjoy a free hotel stay and service | B.visit Thorsmork National Park |
C.taste food made by local organic produce | D.relax muscles in a geothermal spa |
A.Men are the target vacationers. | B.They are combinations of wellness and scenery. |
C.Courses and classes are arranged during them. | D.They are available all year round. |
A.To promote marathon events. | B.To attract more tourists to America. |
C.To advertise some P.E. clubs. | D.To introduce some wellness vacations. |
4 . Called the “Iron Hammer” in her playing days, Lang Ping is considered as one of the biggest heroes of Chinese sports.
At the 1981 World Cup in Japan, the Chinese women’s team showed the world their speed and power for the first time. Playing outside hitter, Lang helped the team take home its first major title. Thanks to teamwork and their strong spirit, they achieved a record of five world titles in a row, which include two World Cups, two World Championships and a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics.
Despite a lot of victories, after eight years of hard training and fighting, Lang retired as a player in 1986. But she never said goodbye to her favorite sport. In 1995, Lang became the head coach of the Chinese national team and led China to silver medals at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic and the 1998 World Championships in Japan.
Though she left the job in 1999 to coach an Italian club, in 2013 she returned to coach the young national team. In 2016, her team took home the gold medal at the Rio Olympics, making her the first person to win an Olympic gold for volleyball both as a player and a coach. The team was listed fourth after the preliminary competition. But Lang said in a public interview, “Sometimes you know you may not win, but you still have to pull out all the stops.”
Lang plays an important role in the creation and passing on of an honorable tradition of fighting and teamwork. “The spirit of Chinese women’s volleyball team is never to give up. My duty as the coach is to guide this young team to carry on this spirit,” said Lang. The spirit is about more than sport; it is an important source of spiritual strength for the country to draw on in its effort to press ahead.
1. When did Lang win her first world champion?A.In 1981. | B.In 1984. | C.In 1986. | D.In 1995. |
A.They won the first prize. |
B.They had a good start. |
C.They won all the games. |
D.They didn’t enter the final. |
A.Put you on the spot. | B.End up with the game. |
C.Go all out. | D.Catch your eye. |
A.We have to do sports every day. |
B.We should keep fighting to the end. |
C.We should try our best to be a coach. |
D.We must spend time learning volleyball. |
A.Lang Ping, a very strict coach |
B.Lang Ping, a hero of Chinese sports |
C.The Chinese people’s love for volleyball |
D.The spirit of Chinese women’s volleyball team |
5 . Marty was new at school. On his first day, he showed magic to his schoolmates. He made a toothpick (牙签) disappear and appear within seconds. Everyone wondered how he did it.
“How did you do that?” I asked. “Sorry, but that’s the first law of magic. A magician never lets out his secrets.” Marty smiled. I thought he was tricking everyone. I would make his secrets known to all.
The next day, Marty gave his second magic show. He said he could make things float (飘起). He had a ring in one hand and a pencil in the other. That’s when I saw it: a thin line tied around the end of the pencil and attracted to a button on Marty’s shirt! Sure enough, he made the ring “float” by sliding (滑动) it over the pencil and hanging it from the line. No one else noticed, but I found the secret. I got close to him and said, “I know how you did it.” He looked nervous and asked me, “Are you going to tell others?” I thought for a moment. If I told, I’d finally be able to prove Marty’s magic was fake (假的). Then Marty might lose his new friends. So I told him that I would say nothing about it. And then I walked away.
“Wait!” Marty jumped in front of me. “You’ve got a pretty good eye for magic. If you’re interested, I have an idea,” Marty suggested. And I accepted his idea. That’s how the Magic Marty and Mysterious Matt Lunch Show began. We’ve been a magic team for three months now. It turns out that instead of a fake magician, Marty is a real friend.
1. To whom did Marty show magic on his first day at school?A.His parents. | B.His brothers. | C.His teachers. | D.His schoolmates. |
A.It was the first law of magic. |
B.It was the rule of study. |
C.It was a duty for everyone. |
D.It was a task for a student. |
A.Its operation went wrong. |
B.It was praised by the writer. |
C.The writer found its secret. |
D.It was done with the help of others. |
A.Nervous. | B.Excited. | C.Sorry. | D.Happy. |
A.He refused Marty’s suggestion. |
B.He and Marty set up a magic team. |
C.He let out the secret of Marty’s magic. |
D.He and Marty wrote a book about magic. |
6 . Here are some eBooks for you to learn better English. Choose what you like.
Book 1
This eBook will make conversations in English so much easier. There are over 30 audio (音频的) files with typical (典型的) conversations, and exercises with answers at the back so you can practise what you have learnt.
Book 2
Learn over 1,000 English words and expressions so you can speak English fluently when you travel outside your country! Learn the language for over 30 typical situations and make travelling abroad easy with this eBook!
Book 3
Learn over 500 words and expressions to improve your business English! This eBook comes with audio files an videos so you can learn the language you need to do business in English!
Book 4
Learn over 250 phrasal verbs with audio files, example sentences and pictures. Native English speakers use phrasal verbs all the time, so you need to learn them too. Start improving this important area of English now with our fantastic eBook!
1. What are the books mainly about?A.Travel safety. | B.Business news. |
C.Video selling. | D.English learning. |
A.Book 1. | B.Book 2. | C.Book 3. | D.Book 4. |
A.Conversations in 30 audio files. |
B.1,000 words and sentences. |
C.Over 500 words and expressions. |
D.Over 250 phrasal verbs and sentences. |
A.Phrasal verbs. | B.Audio files. |
C.Example sentences. | D.Native speakers. |
A.A travel guide. | B.A news report. |
C.A book advertisement. | D.A history story. |
7 . No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own efforts.
I learned this lesson from an experience many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a weak football program.
It was a tradition for the school's old team to play against the new team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no couch, and they didn't even practice to prepare for the Game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited because I knew we were going to win, but to my sadness we were beaten. I couldn't believe I had got into such a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to realize that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were depending on me. I had to change my attitude about their ability and confidence.
I stared doing anything I could to help them build a little pride. Most important,I began to treat them like winners. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their vacations. We met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football.
Six months after suffering our failure on the spring practice field. we won our first game and our second, and continue to improve .Finally, we faced the number one team in the state.I felt that it would be a victory for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest thrills of my life !
From the experience I learned a lot about how the attitude of the leader can influence the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and encouraged them. I helped them to see themselves differently, and they built themselves into winners.
Winners are made, not born.
1. Who did the author think would become the winners at first?A.The old team. | B.Their own team. |
C.The number one team. | D.The other team |
A.Before their training. | B.During the spring practice. |
C.At the start of the vacation. | D.Six months after their failure. |
A.Interests | B.Fears | C.Excitements | D.Concerns |
A.By building up their confidence. | B.By giving them a lecture. |
C.By buying them a book. | D.By changing the leader. |
A.Time is money. | B.Winners are born. |
C.Losers are always beaten. | D.Practice makes perfect. |
8 . The UK's music festivals are world famous but there are plenty more to celebrate in the country.
Burns Night, Scotland
On 25 January, Scots celebrate the life and works of Scotland's national poet Robert Burns by holding a special Burns Supper. This can be a chance for friends to get together with a huge formal dinner. Guests take it in turn to recite Burns' poems or sing one of his songs.
Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye, Wales
For 10 days each May, the small town of Hay on-Wye on the edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales is filled with writers, filmmakers, musicians, and people who come to hear them talk and exchange ideas. The festival celebrates great writing of all genres (体裁) and it all takes place in a village in the town.
Camp Festival, Dorset
As a branch of a festival held in Dorset, it's one of the best family festivals in the UK Held every year in the grounds of the historic Lulworth Castle in Dorset, the festival includes top live music acts, but as the organizer say, “kids are king” at Camp Festival, with a wide variety of entertainment, workshops and fun for kids. The 2020 Camp Festival takes place from 25 to 28 July.
Guy Fawkes Day or “Bonfire Night”
All over the UK on 5 November, the British light bonfires and set off fireworks in their back gardens or, more commonly these days, at organized events in public parks. They celebrate the Catholic Guy Fawkes' failed attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament (议会院) on 5 November, 1605.
1. Which festivals are related to literature (文学)?A.Hay Festival and Camp Festival. | B.Bums Night and Hay Festival. |
C.Burs Night and Guy Fawkes Day. | D.Camp Festival and Guy Fawkes Day. |
A.In July. | B.In May. | C.In January. | D.In November. |
A.An impressive building. | B.A successful adventure. |
C.An organized game. | D.A historical event. |
According to a review of evidence in a medical journal, runners live three years
The best exercise is one that you enjoy and will do. But otherwise… it's probably running. To avoid knee pain, you can run on soft surfaces, do exercises to