1 . Cultural heritage is an essential part of our identity, history and traditions. It includes buildings, monuments, artworks, books, music and other artefacts.
So, what can we do to protect our cultural heritage? The first step is to raise awareness about its importance. People need to understand that cultural heritage is not just a collection of old things.
Another way to protect cultural heritage is through legislation.
Education plays a crucial role in preserving cultural heritage. Schools and universities can teach students about the value of cultural heritage and how to care for it
Technology can be a useful tool in protecting cultural heritage. Digitization allows us to preserve and share cultural artefacts with a wider audience, while also reducing the risk of damage or loss. Virtual reality can also be used to recreate historical sites and buildings, allowing people to experience them in a new and immersive way.
A.Historic buildings are climate friendly. |
B.It is also a symbol of our cultural diversity and creativity. |
C.Protecting cultural heritage requires a collective effort. |
D.To be kept alive, cultural heritage must be related to its community. |
E.This non-renewable treasure should be passed down from one generation to another. |
F.Governments can establish laws and regulations to protect historic sites, buildings and artifacts. |
G.Museums and other cultural institutions can offer exhibitions and events that show the importance of cultural heritage. |
2 . Myspace launched in September 2003. Friendster gave inspiration to the founders of Myspace, and the social network officially went live on the web in January 2004. After its first month online, over one million people signed up. By November 2004, that number grew to 5 million. By 2006, Myspace was visited more times than Google Search and Yahoo, becoming the most visited website in the United States. In June of that year, Myspace was reportedly responsible for nearly 80 percent of all social media traffic.
As explosive as Myspace was, it paled in comparison to how quickly Facebook grew into the internet giant it is today. In April 2008, both Facebook and Myspace attracted 115 million unique global visitors per month, with Myspace still winning in the U. S. alone. In December 2008, Myspace experienced peak (顶峰) U. S. traffic with 75. 9 million unique visitors. As Facebook grew, Myspace sustain a series of downsizing and redesigns as it tried to redefine itself as a social entertainment network. It was estimated (估价) in March 2011 that the site had dropped from attracting 95 million to 63 million unique visitors within the past year.
Although several factors triggered Myspace’s fall, one argument held that the company never figured out how to innovate well enough to keep up with the competition. Officially, however, Myspace is far from dead. If you go to myspace.com, you’ll see that it is very much still alive, though it has mostly transitioned away from social networking to become a site for planning music and entertainment. As of 2019, the site boasted over 7 million monthly visits. On Myspace’s front page, you’ll find a variety of entertainment news stories not just about music, but also movies, sports, food, and other cultural topics. Profiles are still a central feature of the social network, but users are encouraged to share their own music, videos, photos, and even concert events.
1. How long has it taken Myspace to become the most visited website in America since its establishment?A.About 2 years. | B.About 3 years. |
C.About 5 years. | D.About 8 years. |
A.adapted | B.acquired | C.challenged | D.experienced |
A.Lack of improvement. | B.Too much competition. |
C.Unclear business positioning. | D.Cutting down too many workers. |
A.Profiles. | B.Social networking. |
C.Entertainment news. | D.Music and entertainment. |
3 . August is one of the most popular months to travel for Chinese. Choosing the perfect destination for an August vacation isn’t easy. We looked at airfare trends, climate data, and cultural calendars to select 4 vacation spots that are some of the best places to visit this August.
Mackinac Island, Michigan
Visitors can enjoy the sunny weather while boating, fishing, and sailing. On land, you can hop between historic sites like Fort Mackinac and Fort Holmes, both key sites in the War of 1812.
And sweet teeth will have something to celebrate too: the Fudge(软糖)Festival, which takes place every August and allows the many fudge shops on the island to show off their best work.
Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts
Martha’s Vineyard is praised as one of the most classic summer getaways in the United States. The charming island south of Cape Cod is dotted with simple and elegant New England homes, relaxing sandy beaches. The sunny summer weather in August sets the perfect stage fora boat outing or a shopping trip to the town’s shops of all kinds.
Krakow, Poland
Krakow, Poland, is the perfect mixture of history and nightlife.
Tourist favorites in Krakow include Wawel Cathedral, St. Mary’s Basilica, and the Schindler’s Factory museum, each of which gives a glance into Poland’s religious and political history. After the sun sets, enjoy Krakow’s world—famous har and restaurant scene, and don’t forget to pop into a cafe for a late-night snack.
Maasai Mara National Reserve, Kenya
Every year, one of the grandest wonders in nature is performed here—the Great Migration.
The annual migration sees more than 2 million wildebeest(羚羊), zebras make the dangerous journey across the Serengeti in search of greener fields. Along the way, predators(食肉动物)such as lions and crocodiles lie in wait for the incoming foods, providing tense scene for brave sightseers and nature lovers.
1. What do you enjoy when you go to Krakow?A.Boating. | B.Bars and restaurants. |
C.The Fudge Festival. | D.The Great Migration. |
A.Mackinac Island. | B.Martha’s Vineyard. |
C.Krakow. | D.Maasai Mara National Reserve. |
A.They are some of the best places to visit this August for Chinese. |
B.The total cost of going to these places is roughly the same. |
C.They all have historical scenes to visit. |
D.They are all the favorite seaside of tourists. |
4 . It’s a well-known fact that volunteering brings positive changes to communities.
Volunteering has positive effects on our physical health too.
You could also volunteer at a museum.
Volunteering teaches you skills that can come in handy for your future career, and of course, it will keep you healthy both mentally and physically.
A.But do you know that volunteers themselves can benefit from it too? |
B.It lowers our stress level and blood pressure, thus contributing to a long life. |
C.Volunteering really is one of the most rewarding things you can do in your free time. |
D.One study indicates that the people who often volunteer are less likely to achieve success. |
E.Places like this often rely on volunteers to provide services such as supplying visitors with information. |
F.In one British study participants who had volunteered often reported feeling more satisfied with their lives than those who had not. |
G.If you’re ready to do some volunteer work but don’t know where to begin, you’ll be glad to know there are plenty of choices out there. |
5 . The sun is setting, brightening your kids’ faces as they play in the waves. You reach for your phone for this perfect moment. But before you do, here’s a bit of surprising science: Taking photos is not the perfect way to keep memory as you think.
Taking too many pictures could actually harm the brain’s ability to keep memories, says Elizabeth Loftus, a psychology professor at the University of California. So, we get the photo but kind of lose the memory. Photography “outsources” memories. It works in two ways: We either shake off the responsibility of remembering moments when taking pictures, or we’re so distracted (分心的) by the process that we miss the moment altogether. The first explanation is the loss of memory. People know that their camera is recording that moment, so they don’t try to remember. The other is distraction. We’re distracted by the process of taking a photo — how we hold our phone, composing the photo, such as smiling faces, the background to our liking and clear image, all of which use up our attention that could otherwise help us memorize.
However, taking photos can help memory when done mindfully. While taking a photo may be distracting, the act of preparation by focusing on visual details around has the opposite. When people take the time to take clear pictures, memories become strengthened.
Another advantage is that we recall moments more exactly with the photos. Memory has been reshaped with the help of new information and new experiences. Thus, photos or videos help us recall moments as if they really happened. Memories die away without a visual record backing them up. Therefore, a photo is an excellent tool to help remember when done purposefully, which is worth exploring further.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?A.To present the topic. | B.To show the background. |
C.To provide an example. | D.To make an argument. |
A.Taking photos is helpful for us to memorize. |
B.Photos are more detailed than memories. |
C.Many sources influence people’s memories during photo-taking. |
D.People depend more on photos to remember than their brains. |
A.When taking photos is better. | B.How to use photo-taking to memorize better. |
C.How to stay focused while taking photos. | D.When distraction is likely to happen. |
A.Photography Does Help to Memories |
B.Too Many Photos Taken Result in Poor Memories |
C.Remember the Moment and Take Photos Properly |
D.The Fewer Photos We Take, the Better We Will Remember |
6 . When I was a boy growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, we had a milkman delivering milk to our doorstep. His name was Mr. Basille. He wore a white cap and drove a white truck. As a 5-year-old boy, I couldn’t take my eyes off the coin changer fixed to his belt. He noticed this one day during a delivery and gave me a quarter out of his coin changer.
Of course, he delivered more than milk. There was cheese, eggs and so on. If we needed to change our order, my mother would pen a note — “Please add a bottle of buttermilk next delivery” — and place it in the box along with the empty bottles. And then, the buttermilk would magically (魔术般) appear.
All of this was about more than convenience. There existed a close relationship between families and their milkmen. Mr. Basille even had a key to our house, for those times when it was so cold outside that we put the box indoors, so that the milk wouldn’t freeze. And I remember Mr. Basille from time to time taking a break at our kitchen table, having a cup of tea and telling stories about his delivery.
There is sadly no home milk delivery today. Big companies allowed the production of cheaper milk, thus making it difficult for milkmen to compete. Besides, milk is for sale everywhere, and it may just not have been practical to have a delivery service.
Recently, an old milk box in the countryside I saw brought back my childhood memories. I took it home and planted it on the back porch (门廊) . Every so often my son’s friends will ask what it is. So I start telling stories of my boyhood, and of the milkman who brought us friendship along with his milk.
1. Mr. Basille gave the boy a quarter out of his coin changer to __________.A.show his magical power | B.pay for the delivery |
C.satisfy his curiosity | D.please his mother |
A.He wanted to have tea there. | B.He was a respectable person. |
C.He was treated as a family member. | D.He was fully trusted by the family. |
A.Nobody wants to be a milkman now. | B.It has been driven out of the market. |
C.Its service is getting poor. | D.It is not allowed by law. |
A.He missed the good old days. | B.He wanted to tell interesting stories. |
C.He needed it for his milk bottles. | D.He planted flowers in it. |
7 . We all know that unpleasant feeling when we’re talking about something interesting and halfway through our sentence we’re interrupted(打断). But was that really an interruption? The answer depends on whom you ask, according to new research led by Katherine Hilton from Stanford University.
Using a set of controlled audio clips, Hilton surveyed 5,000 American English speakers to better understand what affects people’s perceptions(认知)of interruptions. She had participants listen to audio clips and then answer questions about whether the speakers seemed to be friendly and engaged, listening to one another, or trying to interrupt.
Hilton found that American English speakers have different conversational styles. She identified two groups: high and low intensity speakers. High intensity speakers are generally uncomfortable with moments of silence in conversation and consider talking at the same time a sign of engagement. Low intensity speakers find it rude to talk at the same time and prefer people speak one after another in conversation:
The differences in conversational styles became obvious when participants listened to audio clips in which two people spoke at the same time but were agreeing with each other and stayed on topic, Hilton said. The high intensity group reported that conversations where people spoke at the same time when expressing agreement were not interruptive but engaged and friendlier than the conversations with moments of silence in between speaking turns. In contrast, the low intensity group perceived any amount of simultaneous (同时) chat as a rude interruption, regardless of what the speakers were saying.
“People care about being interrupted, and those smalt interruptions can have a massive effect on the overall communication,” Hilton said. “Breaking apart what an interruption means is essential if we want to understand how humans interact with each other.”
1. What does Hilton’s research focus on?A.What interruptions mean to people. | B.Where interruptions are accepted. |
C.How to avoid getting interrupted | D.Why speakers interrupt each other. |
A.Record an audio clip. | B.Answer some questions. |
C.Listen to one another. | D.Have a chat with a friend. |
A.It’s important. | B.It’s interesting. | C.It’s inefficient. | D.It’s impolite. |
A.Conversational styles affect perceptions of interruptions. |
B.Communication is the very basis of our everyday life. |
C.Interruptions during conversations contribute to thinking. |
D.Language barriers will always exist regardless of the content. |
8 . The biggest risk I’ve ever taken was quitting my job and biking alone across western China.
One of the best parts of the whole experience was the people. I met people from across China and once got to attend a Tibetan wedding-something I never thought I would do.
The people were some of the best parts of the trip, but mostly each day, I was alone with nature. Throughout the rolling hills and the flowing streams, western China is home to some of the most amazing scenery in the world.
It was indeed an experience I will never forget. If anyone has an interest in traveling, I would highly recommend going by bicycle!
A.It simply took my breath away. |
B.My family were shocked and tried to talk me out of it. |
C.The food was definitely another highlight of my journey. |
D.I had never biked for more than two hours in one day before. |
E.It really inspired me to push myself and go farther every day. |
F.Traveling by bicycle was actually much cheaper than I thought. |
G.The whole event was extraordinary, full of dancing, laughter and fun. |
9 . One year, a college in the United States announced that it would offer a lot of money for the pure white marigold (金盏花). The high reward attracted so many people, but in nature, besides golden, the marigold is brown, and it is not easy to get the white one. So after they were excited for a time, many people had forgotten the announcement.
One normal day after 20 years, the college received a letter and 100 seeds of pure white marigold. It was an old woman of over 70 years old. Some experts in the college doubted it, but in order not to let her down, those seeds finally took root (根) in the earth. The miracle appeared after one year; the field was covered by pure white marigold.
Therefore, the old woman who was always unknown to the public became a new focus.
The old woman was a flower-lover. When she read the announcement 20 years ago, she got very excited like others. But her eight children were totally against her decision. After all, a woman who never knew the seed genetics (遗传学) couldn’t complete what the experts could never do, so her thought was only a day dream.
Still, the old woman didn’t change her mind and went on working. She planted some of the most common seeds and took good care of them. A year later, when the marigold came out, she chose one faintest (最暗淡的) from those golden and brown flowers and got the best seed. The next year, she again grew them and chose...Day after day, year after year, through many seasons, the old woman’s husband died, her children flew far, a lot of things happened in her life, but only the wish to grow the pure white marigold took root in her heart.
Finally, after 20 years on the day we all know, in the garden she saw a marigold, which was nearly white, but as white as silver or snow.
A problem even experts couldn’t deal with was solved by an old woman who didn’t understand genetics. Was it a miracle (奇迹)?
To take root in the heart, even the most common seed can grow into a miracle!
1. According to the passage,________ marigold is unusual.A.white | B.purple |
C.brown | D.golden |
A.the children didn’t agree on their mother’s decision |
B.the woman needed the great reward for her big family |
C.the experts also succeeded in growing the white marigold |
D.the woman took good care of the flowers instead of her family |
A.was luckier than experts |
B.put her heart into flowers |
C.got support from her family |
D.studied the seed genetics well |
A.the difficulties of getting the white marigold |
B.the possibility of going beyond experts |
C.the unforgettable development of marigolds |
D.the importance of holding on to dreams |
10 . Stores play music to change the way customers feel. Clothing stores for teenagers play popular music. It is exciting and makes the customers feel happy, but music does more than that. It can change the way a person shops.
According to studies, the volume (音量) of music changes how people shop. Customers shop quickly when store music is very loud. They hurry through the store, but they buy just as much. When music is quiet, customers shop slowly. Customers take time to look at the products and talk with the salespeople. Quiet music is good for products that take time and information to buy.
Slow music makes people slow down. In restaurants with slow music, customers spend more time eating. Slow music also slows down customers in supermarkets. Customers notice more products as they walk through the store. With slow music in supermarkets, sales go up by 38 percent.
Familiar music gives shoppers a good idea of time. People know the beginning, middle, and end of a familiar song. When customers hear music that is not familiar, they don’t notice the time. When they don’t notice the time, they spend more time shopping and buy more. People remember past experiences and feelings when they hear familiar music. Many stores play old, happy music so customers feel good. When customers hear new music, they forget about the world outside of the store. Some stores use new music so their customers relax while they shop.
Stores choose music that fits their products. A bookstore plays classical music and jazz. It gives the store a serious and intelligent feeling.
1. What’s the best title for the passage?A.Customers’ Music |
B.Store Music |
C.Customers and Music Owners |
D.Music and Shopping |
A.Quiet music is good for products. |
B.People shop slowly when they hear quiet music. |
C.People shop quickly when they hear loud music. |
D.The degrees of loudness of music influence the way of shopping. |
A.It changes the way people shop. |
B.It changes the way people feel. |
C.It changes the way people use the products. |
D.It changes the way people think about the products. |
A.Classical music. | B.Rock music. | C.Country music. | D.Jazz music. |