2 . For many years, school children in the US have been taken on “field trips” to cultural institutions such as museums of art. Educators arrange them in the belief that schools exist not only to teach economically useful skills, but also to produce civilized young people who appreciate the art and culture. While there are parents who will take their children to cultural places in their free time, there are plenty of other children who will never have this kind of opportunity unless schools offer it. So you could say that taking school students on field trips is a means of giving everyone equal access to their cultural heritage.

However, the attitude towards field trips in recent years is changing, with the number of tours organized for school groups falling significantly in museums all around the country. The most obvious reason is the issue of finance. Because there are increasing demands on their funds, after all, computers and sports facilities aren’t cheap, schools are forced to make a difficult choice about how to spend the limited money they have. Faced with this dilemma, field trips are an obvious thing to cut since they are seen by many as too expensive.

Additionally, the nature of these field days is also changing. Schools increasingly use trips to amusement parks or sporting events as a treat for students rather than an opportunity for cultural learning. This shift could have a basis in generational differences between teachers’ reasons for organizing days out of school. A recent survey conducted among 500 Arkansas teachers showed that older teachers were significantly more likely to take the primary purpose of a field trip as a learning experience than younger teachers, who view it as fun.

Some evidence shows the trend of fewer trips may have a negative effect on children’s development. A research led by Jay Greene at Arkansas University found that students who received a tour of an art museum greatly improved their knowledge of and the ability to think critically about art. They also display stronger historical interest and were more likely to visit cultural places in the future. The researchers warm that if schools cut field trips or switch to less educational destinations, valuable opportunities to broaden and enrich children’s learning experiences are lost.

1. What is the original purpose of field trips to cultural institutions?

A．To teach students useful skills in economics.

B．To encourage parents to take their children there.

C．To educate students to preserve cultural heritage.

D．To make art culture accessible to every student.

2. Which factor most probably leads to the trend of fewer field trips?

A．The decrease in school funds.

B．The lack of school funds.

C．Students’ demand for fun.

D．Teachers’ generational differences.

3. What does the underlined phrase “This shift” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The switch from old generations to young generations.

B．The switch from sporting events to cultural experiences.

C．The change from an opportunity for learning to a treat for entertainment.

D．The change from educational destinations to unique attractions.

4. What can be inferred about field rips from the research by Jay Greene?

A．Students are rewarded with more cultural awareness.

B．Amusement parks enrich children’s learning experiences.

C．Cutting field trips is critical to the future of the museum.

D．Field trips ensure better future academic performance.

3 . Landscapes are not only the setting for history; they are also a major source of our sense of history and identity.Read them right, and historical landscapes can be more informative than any other kind of source.This is even more the case with sacred landscapes, which were reflection of our ancestors’ beliefs about their relation to the cosmos and can still today seem to hold a spiritual influence.

Over the years, I’ve had the good fortune to have spent time in many historical landscapes, hoping to picture something of the spirits of the people who shaped them over the centuries.I still remember years ago walking along the Inca sacred lines around Cusco, Peru. In this ancient landscape, old sites that once belonged to Incan royals had become torn Spanish mansions. Or many years ago, before the Gulf Wars, I took a journey through south Iraq, the heart land of civilization, where the desert is still crossed by dried-up riverbeds of the Euphrates and canals that once sustained the world’s first cities.

Britain also has its own magical ancient landscapes. From the Mesolithic to the Bronze and Iron Ages, rich layers of the past are still present in the landscape surrounding Stonehenge, even as traffic rushes down the A303. It is the A303 that is the problem. As the main road to the south west from the home counties, the road runs right past Stonehenge. One of humanity’s most famous monuments, Stonehenge is an archaeological landscape without parallel in Europe, and perhaps the world. The first circle at Stonehenge was made 5,000 years ago, and the great stone circle itself in a round 2,500 BC—the age of the pyramids! And the mysteries of this amazing monument and the complex prehistoric societies that produced it are by no means exhausted, as new discoveries continue to show.

All the more worrying to me then, this unique landscape is currently at the centre of a projected plan by Highways England, which aims to relieve congestion on the A303 by creating a four-lane road with a 1.8-mile tunnel, and an expressway interchange 1.5 miles to the west. While the National Trust and English Heritage have offered qualified support for the plan, UNESCO has expressed its opposition. Meanwhile, the Stonehenge Alliance, a group of archaeologists and environmental campaigners, says the plan is based on inadequate and obsolete information. In the end, the argument is about the totality of an ancient landscape, and that includes the ancient astronomical alignment that was purposefully chosen by our ancestors, and that will, in my view, be wrecked by the expressway interchange. Time perhaps for a rethink in the name of future generations?

1. What can historical landscapes offer us?

A．Details of ancient lifestyle.	B．Sacred writings.
C．Rich historical information.	D．Breathtaking sights.

2. What did the author want to explore when touring historical landscapes?

A．Different architecture.	B．His sense of belonging.
C．The rise of ancient cities.	D．The spirits of ancestors.

3. Which of the following is True about Stonehenge   ?

A．The first stone circle has a longer history than the pyramids.

B．New discoveries have solved the mysteries of the monument.

C．The ancient monument must have been the heart land of civilization.

D．The landscape surrounding has rich layers of the present.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the projected plan by Highways England?

A．He is for it because it will benefit the future generations.

B．He keeps cool but believes a better solution could be adopted.

C．It should be stopped because it will destroy the totality of the monument.

D．It is rather practical especially with qualified support from the government.

4 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容在答题卡相应题号后的横线上写下相关信息，完成对该问题的回答。

Food as Communication

We usually understand when someone speaks or writes to us, and many gestures (手势) and facial expressions have meaning, too. But have you ever considered what and how we eat as a form of communication? In many cultures, people sit together and share food at mealtimes, which is a common tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also play an important role in a family or culture’s celebrations. The foods we eat—and when and how we eat them—are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between areas within one country.

In most cultures, bread represents delicious food. It is also one of the most commonly shared foods in the world. Sharing bread is a common symbol of companionship and togetherness. In fact, the word companion comes from the Latin roots com- (together) and panis (bread). Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with decorated cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition has its roots in the custom of sharing bread.

There are foods like bread in other cultures. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is baked into the cake, which stands for success in the New Year for the person who receives it. Most of the foods eaten during the Chinese New Year have significance. Sometimes this is based on their shape; for example, long noodles symbolize long life. The symbolism can also be based on the sound of the word in Chinese; for example, people give out oranges because the word for “orange” sounds like the word for “wealth”. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to symbolize family unity.

Food is essential for life, so it is not surprising that it is such an important part of different cultures around the world. The food people eat during celebrations may have a long history and can symbolize many things, but sharing food is one custom that almost all humans have in common.

1. Why does the author regard eating food as a form of communication?
     ①        
2. How do people celebrate birthdays and marriages in many cultures?
     ②         
3. What does the author mainly talk about in Paragraph 3?
      ③          
4. Many of the food traditions mentioned in the passage are very old. Why are they still important today?
     ④

5 . If Confucius(孔子)were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He'd need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.

While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It's nothing personal. Most Americans don't even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.

But this doesn't mean that Americans don't care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually include Chinese art, history and

philosophy(哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks(缺陷)of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.

So the old thinker's ideas are still alive and well.

Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.

1. The opening paragraph is mainly intended to______________.

A．provide some key facts about Confucius

B．attract the readers' interest in the subject

C．show great respect for the ancient thinker

D．prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations

2. We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students___________.

A．have a great interest in studying Chinese

B．take an active part in Chinese competitions

C．try to get high scores in Chinese exams

D．fight for a chance to learn Chinese

3. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Forgotten Wisdom in America

B．Huge Fans of the Chinese Language

C．Chinese Culture for Westerners

D．Old Thinker with a Big Future

4. The passage is likely to appear in__________.

A．a personal biography	B．a history paper
C．a cultural newspaper	D．a philosophy textbook

6 . Kites have been around for a long time. The Chinese invented kites over 2000 years ago. A determined man named Mo Zi had an idea as he watched hawks(鹰) fly. He spent three years making a wooden hawk “kite”. It broke after one flight! Mo Zi and his Chinese friends did not give up. Soon they perfected the art of creating kites.

Kites became part of many Chinese festivals. Pictures of kites were also on vases and in paintings. But kites were meant to fly in places other than China! Marco Polo visited China in the 13th century and brought kites back to Europe with him. Europeans loved them, and the art of kiting “took off”!

Many kites have stories behind them. One Chinese novel, called Journey to the West, was written around 1400 AD. In the story, a priest(僧侣) traveled with three students. One student was a monkey. The second student was a man with pig ears. The third student was a former river monster. These characters often appear on Chinese kites. Another splendid(壮观的) Chinese kite is the dragon kite. A dragon kite is made of many round discs strung together. Often the dragon is bright red, with fat horns and white teeth. The dragon is the king of beasts in Chinese myths. It represents goodness, even though it looks scary. Two kinds of kites have pictures of birds on them. One kite is called the phoenix(凤凰) bird kite. The phoenix bird symbolizes peace. Another kite shows the redheaded crane(鹤).The crane represents happiness, good fortune, and a long life.

Kites come in all shapes and sizes. Flat or bowed kites have a simple shape, such as a diamond or a rectangle(长方形). Delta(三角形) kites are triangular. Rokkaku kites are six-sided and often bear a striking image. Sometimes these kites “fight” each other until one kite drops from the sky. The other kite then wins the “battle”.

1. Who introduced Chinese kites to Europe?

A．A foreigner from Europe.	B．Three students in Journey to the West.
C．The priest in Journey to the West.	D．A Chinese artist.

2. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．The novel Journey to the West mainly talks about the art of kiting.

B．The characters in the novel Journey to the West are often painted on kites.

C．The dragon kite represents happiness, good fortune and a long life.

D．A phoenix bird is a main character in the novel Journey to the West.

3. Which statement expresses an opinion rather than a fact?

A．Kites became part of many Chinese festivals.

B．There are many different kinds of kites.

C．The dragon kite is the most splendid Chinese kite.

D．Kites were invented 2000 years ago.

7 . Do you think studying in a different country is something that sounds very exciting? Certainly, it is a new experience, which brings the opportunity of discovering fascinating things and a feeling of freedom.     1     You will experience culture shock. Evidently, at least four essential stages of culture-shock adjustment occur.

The first stage is called "the honeymoon". In this stage, you feel excitement about living in a different place, and everything seems to be marvelous.     2    

Eventually, however, the second stage of culture shock appears. This is the "hostility stage".     3     You become tired of many things about the new culture. Moreover, people don't treat you like a guest anymore. Everything that seemed to be so wonderful at first is now awful, and everything makes you feel distressed and tired.

Then you come to the third stage called "recovery". You start feeling more positive, and you try to develop comprehension of everything you don't understand. The whole situation starts to become more favorable.     4    

The last stage of culture shock is called "adjustment".     5     The things that initially made you feel uncomfortable or strange are now things that you understand. Now you feel comfortable; you have adjusted to the new culture.

A．Actually, culture shock is something you cannot avoid when studying in a foreign country.

B．You have reached a point where you feel good because you have learned enough to understand the new culture.

C．You like everything, and everybody seems to be so nice to you.

D．You recover from the symptoms of the first two stages.

E．In spite of these advantages, however, there are also some challenges you will encounter.

F．However, when you have completely adjusted to a new culture you can more fully enjoy it.

G．You begin to notice that not everything is as good as you had originally thought it was.

8 . The world is designed for right-handed people, but why does a tenth of the population prefer the left?     1    

The answer to it remains a bit of a mystery. Since scientists have noticed that left-handedness tends to run in families, it’s assumed that left-handedness has a genetic(基因的) component to it.

    2     In fact, identical twins, who share the same genes, can sometimes prefer to use different hands. There are also plenty of theories on what else might determine which hand you write with, but many experts believe that it’s kind of random.

Historically, the left side and left-handedness have been considered a negative thing by many cultures.     3     In some areas, the left hand became known as the “unclean” hand. In many religions, the right hand of God is the favored hand. For example, Jesus sits at God’s right side. God’s left hand, however, is the hand of judgment. Various activities and experiences become rude or even signs of bad luck when the left hand becomes involved. In some parts of Scotland, it is considered bad luck to meet a left-handed person at the start of a journey.     4    A person giving directions will put their left hand behind them and even physically try to point with their right hand if necessary. In some Asian countries, eating with the left hand is considered impolite.

    5    People come to realize that left-handedness is natural. Some researchers find out that lefties are more creative and can deal with abstract thinking better. The left-handedness is more easily adaptable to the right-handed world as well. Being left-handed is no longer a sad story now; instead, it is a wonderful gift or maybe it is something you should take pride in.

A．In other words, left-handers are born that way.

B．Left-handedness used to be regarded as a disability.

C．The unfavorable associations of the use of the left hand among cultures are varied.

D．Why do they prefer to use their left hand rather than their right hand for routine activities?

E．Why do some parents force their left-handed children to become right-handed when writing?

F．In Ghana, pointing, gesturing, giving or receiving items with the left hand is considered rude.

G．Fortunately, nowadays most societies and cultures no longer reject left-handedness like before.

9 . For Western designers, China and its rich culture have long been an inspiration for Western creative.

“It’s no secret that China has always been a source(来源) of inspiration for designers,” says Amanda Hill, chief creative officer at A+E Networks, a global media company and home to some of the biggest fashion(时尚) shows.

Earlier this year, the China Through A Looking Glass exhibition in New York exhibited 140 pieces of China-inspired fashionable clothing alongside Chinese works of art, with the aim of exploring the influence of Chinese aesthetics(美学) on Western fashion and how China has fueled the fashionable imagination for centuries. The exhibition had record attendance, showing that there is huge interest in Chinese influences.

“China is impossible to overlook,” says Hill. “Chinese models are the faces of beauty and fashion campaigns that sell dreams to women all over the world, which means Chinese women are not just consumers of fashion — they are central to its movement.” Of course, not only are today’s top Western designers being influenced by China—some of the best designers of contemporary fashion are themselves Chinese. “Vera Wang, Alexander Wang, Jason Wu are taking on Galliano, Albaz, Marc Jacobs—and beating them hands down in design and sales,” adds Hill.

For Hill, it is impossible not to talk about China as the leading player when discussing fashion. “The most famous designers are Chinese, so are the models, and so are the consumers,” she says. “China is no longer just another market; in many senses it has become the market. If you talk about fashion today, you are talking about China—its influences, its direction, its breathtaking clothes, and how young designers and models are finally acknowledging that in many ways.”

1. What can we learn about the exhibition in New York?

A．It promoted the sales of artworks.	B．It attracted a large number of visitors.
C．It showed ancient Chinese clothes.	D．It aimed to introduce Chinese models.

2. What does Hill say about Chinese women?

A．They are setting the fashion.	B．They start many fashion campaigns.
C．They admire super models.	D．They do business all over the world.

3. What do the underlined words “taking on” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．learning from

B．looking down on

C．working with

D．competing against

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Young Models Selling Dreams to the World

B．A Chinese Art Exhibition Held in New York

C．Differences Between Eastern and Western Aesthetics

D．Chinese Culture Fueling International Fashion Trends

10 . Ideas about polite behavior are different from one culture to another. Some societies, such as America and Australia, for example, are mobile and very open. People here change jobs and move houses quite often. As a result, they have a lot of relationships that often last only a short time, and they need to get to know people quickly. So it’s normal to have friendly conversations with people that they have just met, and you can talk about things that other cultures would regard as personal.

On the other hand, there are more crowded and less mobile societies where long-term relationships are more important. A Malaysian or Mexican business person, for example, will want to get to know you very well before he or she feels happy to start business. But when you do get to know each other, the relationship becomes much deeper than it would in a mobile society.

To Americans both Europeans and Asians seem cool and formal at first. On the other hand, as a passenger from a less mobile society puts it, it’s no fun spending several hours next to a stranger who wants to tell you all about his or her life and asks you all sorts of questions that you don’t want to answer.

Cross-cultural differences aren’t just a problem for travelers, but also for the flights that carry them. All flights want to provide the best service, but ideas about good service are different from place to place. This can be seen most clearly in the way that problems are dealt with.

Some societies have ‘universalist’ cultures. These societies strongly respect rules, and they treat every person and situation in basically the same way.

‘Particularist’ societies, on the other hand, also have rules, but they are less important than the society’s unwritten ideas about what is right or wrong for a particular situation or a particular person. So the normal rules are changed to fit the needs of the situation or the importance of the person.

This difference can cause problems. A traveler from a particularist society, India, is checking in for a flight in Germany, a country which has a universalist culture. The Indian traveler has too much luggage, but he explains that he has been away from home for a long time and the suitcases are full of presents for his family. He expects that the check-in official will understand his problem and will change the rules for him. The check-in official explains that if he was allowed to have too much luggage, it wouldn’t be fair to the other passengers. But the traveler thinks this is unfair, because the other passengers don’t have his problem.

1. Often moving from one place to another makes people like Americans and Australians ______.

A．like traveling better

B．easy to communicate with

C．difficult to make real friends

D．have a long-term relationship with their neighbors

2. People like Malaysians prefer to associate with those_______.

A．who will tell them everything of their own

B．who want to do business with them

C．they know quite well

D．who are good at talking

3. A person from a less mobile society will feel it _______ when a stranger keeps talking to him or her, and asking him or her questions.

A．boring	B．friendly
C．normal	D．rough

4. Which of the following is true about “particularist societies”?

A．There is no rule for people to obey.

B．People obey the society’s rules completely.

C．No one obeys the society’s rules though they have.

D．The society’s rules can be changed with different persons or situations.