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Wherever we go, we are surrounded by history. Across the globe, cultural heritage is passed down through the generations. It is in the buildings and structures around us. It is in the arts and artifacts (手工艺品) we treasure. It lives in the languages we speak and the stories we tell. But today, it is under attack as never before. Not only are the damages of time threatening our cultural heritage, but conflicts, climate change, globalization and tourism are all exacting a heavy price. Technology is now the most essential weapon in the battle. Here's how technology is preserving our cultural heritage.
As you can imagine, creating the replicas (复制品) via crowd sourced 2D images is extremely time-consuming. Increasingly, artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms (算法) are being used to do all the required sourcing, allowing millions of images to be stored in a matter of hours. AI will also make restoration and preservation of existing cultural heritage far easier and vastly superior to previous methods.
Virtual reality (VR) technology will play a leading role in preserving our cultural heritage in the coming years. Many of the most important sites and architecture are extremely fragile. Human interaction with these locations is doing a great deal of harm. Wastes accumulate everywhere, causing enormous problems. As more cultural heritage sites and objects are digitally mapped and recorded, VR technology will increasingly become the way that people experience them. We'll all eventually be able to walk through places, look at (and touch!) artifacts and works of art without ever seeing them with our own eyes.
Finally, our cultural heritage will be preserved via technology. Efforts in research, innovation, data sharing and project work will help promote and preserve the cultural heritage of countries all across the world.
1. What does the underlined word “exacting” in paragraph 1 mean?A.Paying. | B.Cutting. | C.Receiving. | D.Demanding. |
A.It generates 2D images. | B.It makes restoration easier. |
C.It makes preservation safer. | D.It creates replicas in seconds. |
A.By recycling huge amounts of waste. | B.By reducing human impact on the site. |
C.By forbidding visitors from touching artifacts. | D.By educating people about the sites' importance. |
A.How Technology Changes Art | B.What Cultural Heritage Means to Us |
C.Preserve the Ancient with the Advanced | D.Prepare for a Revolution in Technology |
2 . Around the world, many people come together on 3lst December to celebrate the coming of the New Year, which is called Hogmanay in Scotland. The tradition of Hogmanay comes from Viking times and the celebration is more popular than Christmas in Scotland.
On Hogmanay's Eve, family members throughout Scotland will get together to “bring in the bells”. The phrase in Scotland refers to the ten-second countdown to midnight when bells ring all over Scotland to signal the beginning of the New Year. The atmosphere can only be described as electric! It is such an exciting event and all of the people are in a good mood as they wait to bring in the New Year bells!
Then most towns in Scotland have celebrations with fireworks in the evening, but in the bigger Scottish cities, other events take place.
The best-known event for Hogmanay is the annual Edinburgh Street Party. Every year, Edinburgh hosts a joyful firework show and other celebrating activities outside of the castle and it is broadcast on TV for those watching the celebration from their homes.
Another very popular event takes place in Stonehaven, where there is a “Fireball Ceremony” which takes place along the street. Around forty men and women come together and wave fireballs around their heads, which is wonderful to witness! People line the streets hours beforehand to see the festival which begins immediately after midnight on December 3lst.
On New Year's Day in Scotland, it is traditional to have a meal with the family. They always eat a steak pie with vegetables. Another tradition that has to be mentioned is the “First Footing” tradition. Also from the time of the Vikings, this is the tradition where the first person to enter the home after Hogmanay has to bring something Scottish with them, otherwise it brings bad luck for the coming year. People are usually very generous with their first footing gifts such as ginger wine, Scottish whisky and homemade shortbread.
1. What will the family members do right before the midnight of 3lst December?A.Have a big dinner party. | B.Ring the bells at home. |
C.Count down the last ten seconds. | D.Set off fireworks outside. |
A.It is a firework show. | B.It is a fireball ceremony. |
C.It is a well-known gathering. | D.It is a popular TV show. |
A.Steak pies with vegetables. | B.Homemade shortbread. |
C.Ginger wine. | D.Scottish whisky. |
A.Hogmanay: the Scottish New Year | B.The Origin of the Scottish New Year |
C.First Footing: an Old Scottish Tradition | D.Different Ways of New Year Celebrations |
3 . In its first year, the Nature Festival will be celebrating South Australian nature with over 100 events for different ages. It is full of creative ways to get you out and about enjoying all that nature has to offer.
Its 10-day program, starting from 25th September 2020, provides a wide range of both free and ticketed experiences. From “adventure” and “learning” experiences to “slowing down” and “helping out” experiences, there will be something for everyone. Here are just some of the events.
Build-a-BirdboxWorkshop
Saturday 26th September @ 9 am
Explore the role of tree hollows and learn how to build a backyard bird box.
Byards RoadWetland Nature by Night
Tuesday 29th September @ 6 pm
Take your torch and discover, on a guided walk, the creatures that come out at night.
For the Love of Trees
Tuesday 29th September@ 12:30 pm
Hear Dr Ralph Body share his understanding of artist Hans Heysen.
Grey-headed Flying-fox Bat Ramble
Thursday 1st October @ 5:45 pm
Walk with local bat experts and hear how the grey-headed flying-fox bat came to be in our city.
Coastal DuneWalk
Sunday 4th October @ 9:30 am
Walk along the coastline and learn about the work being done at the dunes.
Port River Alive
Sunday 4th October @ 11 am
See a short film about who and what lives in the Port River.
The full Nature Festival program is available on the website https://www.naturefestival.org.au. If you’re interested in any of the experiences above, please register as soon as possible.
1. What do we know about the Nature Festival?A.It lasts about half a month. |
B.It welcomes visitors of all ages. |
C.It requires visitors to pay for their tickets. |
D.It is held to call on people to protect nature. |
A.Port River Alive. | B.Coastal Dune Walk. |
C.Build-a-Birdbox Workshop. | D.Byards Road Wetland Nature by Night. |
A.Buying a brochure. | B.Reading advertisements. |
C.Searching online. | D.Booking a magzine. |
4 . Clothing decorated with lucky animals such as Chinese dragons and phoenixes (凤凰), and designers devoted to making China's Olympians look good, all these reflect that the Chinese Olympic Team is not only focused on winning medals, but also showing the beauty of China to the world.
The first impressive moment for Chinese fashion started from the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The Chinese team's uniforms used red as a main color, which represents wishes for a good start for Team China. The Team's uniforms, combining red with white, were designed by a group of designers from the Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology. The uniforms are decorated with a peony (牡丹), which is China's national flower, and the style of the flower was inspired by an ancient Ming Dynasty bowl at the Palace Museum.
Some Chinese gymnastics' uniforms also use the traditional Chinese symbols such as the Chinese phoenix. China's trampoline (蹦床) gold medalist Zhu Xueying said she was pleased with her uniform that looked like a traditional qipao decorated with a phoenix. The bright red uniforms have traditional elements (元素) on the neckline—a qipao knot (结) and a Chinese phoenix. The pattern on the front of the chest represented the hope that the gymnasts would dance in the sky.
The uniform for Chen Meng, another gold medalist in the women's table tennis event, was designed especially for her. The uniform is pink because that is Chen's favorite color and the designers embroidered (刺绣) a Chinese dragon on her right shoulder to represent the hope that she can take off like a powerful dragon.
“I have been watching the Olympics. The uniforms for the Chinese team have added many fashionable elements,” Zhang Yan, a young Chinese designer told the reporter. The most impressive uniforms for him have been those that the Chinese athletes wore on the podiums (领奖台). The elements formed in the clothing designs, including the curving shapes, the colors and the Chinese standing collar, make them both beautiful and practical. “When the athletes stand on the podium, I think the Chinese design is not only attractive, but also a kind of new fashion. The confidence shown in the clothing is really strong.” Zhang Yan said.
1. What is the second paragraph mainly about?A.The colors the Chinese team's uniforms. |
B.The designers of the Chinese team's uniforms. |
C.The characteristics of the Chinese team's uniforms. |
D.The style of the Chinese team's uniforms. |
A.The same color. | B.The same style of Qipao. |
C.The same phoenix. | D.The similar wishes. |
A.Clothes Chinese athletes wore on the podiums were the most attractive. |
B.Strong confidence is shown in the clothing of Chinese athletes. |
C.Zhang Yan took part in designing the Chinese Olympic uniforms. |
D.The Chinese design will be No.1 in the fashion market. |
A.Chinese Athletes Realizing Dreams in the Olympics. |
B.Chinese Uniforms is Different at the Olympic Games. |
C.Chinese Olympic Uniforms Shining at the Olympic Games. |
D.Chinese Team Becoming better and better at the Olympics. |
5 . The Qingming Festival is celebrated with a three-day national holiday, whose name originates from the saying “Plants start to revive and prosper at Qingming in a clean and bright way. Thus, the festival is called Qingming,” which means clean and bright.
Tomb sweeping.
Spring outing. The time around the Qingming Festival is one of the most suitable seasons fora spring outing, as plants are thriving and flowers are blooming. People can have a great time outdoors with their friends and family.
Qingtuan, a green rice ball tiny enough to fit into your hand, is also called Qingmingguo or Aiguo.
A.With each different look comes a good blessing. |
B.The tradition of tomb sweeping originates from the Qin Dynasty. |
C.The two main activities over the festival include tomb sweeping and going on a spring outing. |
D.Family members gather together to celebrate and taste the food. |
E.Playing football and flying kites are popular activities. |
F.Many traditional customs are practiced to show respect for our ancestors. |
G.It is popular in the southern regions of the Yangtze River. |
6 . Every year on April 1, April Fools' Day is celebrated in many countries around the world. In France, it's called "Poisson d’Avril" or "Fish of April”. In Scotland, the holiday is often called "Gowkie Day". In Iraq, the holiday is called "Kithbet Neesan” or "April Lie".
History experts say people have celebrated April Fools’ Day for a long time. Some believe April Fools' Day comes from the ancient Romans more than two thousand years ago, which was a day of playing games and pretending to be someone else.
Others say the day for fooling began in France in 1564. when King Charles changed the yearly calendar. He moved New Year's Day from April 1 to January I Many people did not know about the change because of communication problems then. Some people continued to celebrate New Year's Day on April 1. Other people called them April Fools and played jokes on them.
In the United State, April Fools' Day is just a day of joking and playing tricks on friends. These kinds of jokes are also called pranks (恶 作 剧).These jokes typically end in the prankster shouting “April Fools”!
Simple pranks, like telling a friend a funny lie or making prank phone calls, are still common. But major companies also get in on April Fools' Day in a much bigger way. A few years ago, on April 1, Starbucks announced it was introducing new coffee cup sizes-plenta and Micra. The very large cups, bigger than a human head, remained useful for customers even after finishing all that coffee. According to Starbucks, the cups could be used as a rain hat, a pot for plants, or a lampshade.
It did not take long for customers to catch on to the prank. More and more people use media or smartphone apps to play pranks on their friends on April Fools' Day. One very annoying smartphone app, Cat Facts, sends funny facts about cats to your friends5 phones every day.
1. Why did some French people keep the old New Year's Day?A.They liked the old celebration. |
B.They did not know the change. |
C.They wanted to be different from others. |
D.The king wanted to play plank on the people. |
A.escape the stress of their work |
B.find a chance to give children gifts |
C.improve the friendship between them |
D.have fun and play jokes on others |
A.Join in | B.give away |
C.stick to | D.break away from |
A.To introduce a new festival. |
B.To tell a story on April Fools' Day. |
C.To introduce April Fools' Day. |
D.To explain the misunderstanding of April Fools' Day. |
7 . Unique and Weird New Year's Eve Traditions
German
In some parts of Germany, they do lead (铅)pouring. Pour a dollop (团)of lead into cold water and the shape it dorms may be telling you about the year to come. A heart shape, naturally, means love will come your way. A crown predicts wealth and fortune. A star indicates happiness. But if you see a cross, you're almost dead!
Latin America
If you are in Latin America, make sure you have some colourful underpants to ring in the New Year. End — of — the — year partiers put on colourful underwear to ensure certain types of outcomes of the following year, red for love and yellow for success.
Naples, Italy
Neapolitans like throwing things out of the windows, at least on New Year's Eve. Furniture, kitchen machines, grandma.. Well, maybe not the last one. Let's hope not, anyway. This tradition is meant to symbolize an out — with — the — old gesture and get a new beginning of the new year. These days people are a bit more mindful of what they throw into the street below.
Spain
In 1909, winegrowers in the Alicante region of Spain had a brilliant idea: Start and promote an annual tradition that would involve people in having to buy and eat more grapes. Everyone must eat 12 grapes on New Year's Eve to pray for wealth of the coming year. Now, it's a popular custom in Spain. But the problem is that people have to eat a grape for each bell striking at midnight.
1. Germans would like to see the following shapes of lead Except ________.A.a heart | B.a cross |
C.a star | D.a crown |
A.They hate cooking at home. |
B.They are more careful about what to throw now. |
C.They throw their grandma out of the window. |
D.They like making gestures in front of the windows. |
A.They buy lots of wine. |
B.They pray with 12 grapes. |
C.They eat as many grapes as possible. |
D.They eat a grape for each bell striking, |
8 . The traditional Chinese lunar calendar(农历)divides the year into 24 solar terms(节气).Start of Winter, the 19th solar term of the year,begins this year on Nov 7 and ends on Nov 21.
Start of Winter is the first solar term of winter,which means winter is coming and crops harvested in autumn should he stored up.
In ancient times, the Start of Winter was regarded as the beginning of winter, however,due to geographical factors, the actual winter time varies from place to place.
In fact,the Start of Winter is not the beginning of winter in terms of meteorology(气象学)。The weather every year is different, so the beginning of winter could be quite different.And as China is very large, it starts at different times in different areas.
The beginnings of the four seasons were important festivals in ancient times. Before the Start of Winter,the ancient emperor would take a shower and have no more meat.On that day,the emperor would lead his officials to the countryside and"welcome the winter".
People eat dumplings on the beginning of winter. Legend has it that in the late Eastern Han Dynasty,Zhang Zhongjing invented "Jiao Ear"(娇耳)to treat typhoid(伤寒) patients with ear frostbite(冻疮).He cooked mutton,hot peppers and herbs to drive out the cold and warm up the body.He put these materials into a dough skin and made them into an ear shape.Since then,people have learned to make the food which became known as "dumpling" or jiaozi. Today there is still a saying that goes "Eat dumplings on Start of Winter Day, or your ears will be frostbitten.”
1. Which of the following is right about Start of Winter?A.It is one of the solar terns in Chinese calendar. |
B.People begin to harvest crops on this day. |
C.Winter begins on November 7 this year. |
D.It begins in different months in different places. |
A.the Start of Winter |
B.the change of weather |
C.the important festival |
D.the beginning of winter |
A.Importance of Start of Winter. |
B.Customs of Start of Winter. |
C.Origin(起源)of Start of Winter. |
D.Food eaten on Start of Winter. |
A.Because dumplings can drive away typhoid. |
B.Because they wish for good luck for themselves. |
C.Because eating dumplings can warm up their ears. |
D.Because they want to prevent the coming of winter. |
9 . When my family moved to America in 2010 from a small village in Guang Dong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States.
I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive (敏感) Americans are and how they dislike the description (描述) “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry.
In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience.
However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear.
After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words.
By Jack
1. Jack brought the couple their food very fast because _______.A.the manager asked him to do so | B.he respected the elderly |
C.the couple wanted him to do so | D.he wanted more pay |
A.people dislike being called “old” |
B.people are proud of being old |
C.many people reach the age of seventy or eighty |
D.the elderly are the first to get food in restaurants |
A.lost his job in the restaurant | B.made friends with the couple |
C.no longer respected the elderly | D.changed his way with older people |
A.The more Jack explained, the angrier the couple got. |
B.Jack wanted to show his feelings through words after his experience. |
C.The manager went back to the table and apologized to the couple. |
D.From this experience, Jack learned more about American culture. |
10 . Thanksgiving Day in the United States is a holiday on the fourth Thursday of November. It precedes (先于) Black Friday.
Thanksgiving Day is traditionally a day for families and friends to get together for a special meal. The meal often includes a turkey, stuffing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy, pumpkin pie, and vegetables. Meanwhile,
Public Life
Most government offices, businesses, schools and other organizations are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Many offices and businesses allow staff to have a four-day weekend so these offices and businesses are also closed on the Friday after Thanksgiving Day.
Thanksgiving Day is one of the busiest periods for travel in the USA.
Background
There are claims that the first Thanksgiving Day was held in the city of El Paso, Texas.
A.Accidents are quite likely to happen everywhere. |
B.The Day Celebrations. |
C.A Day of Feast. |
D.Another influential event was held in 1619 in the Virginia Colony. |
E.This can lead to congestion and overcrowding. |
F.Thanksgiving Day is a time for many people to give thanks for what they have. |
G.Public transportation systems do not usually operate on their regular timetables. |