1 . Youth Speech Competition
UNICEF is working towards a world where every child has what they need to survive and develop. But we can’t do it without big ideas from young people — young people who are brave enough to share their brilliant ideas with the world. UNICEF USA and TED-Ed invite young people to create their own talks on the rights of children and the problems young people face around the world.
One winner will be invited to UNICEF USA’s Annual Student Summit to make his/her speech on stage!
Criteria (标准)Youths aged 10-18 (if you are under 13, you must have a parent or teacher to help you register (报名)).
Must register online.
Your video must be under 2 minutes.
Deadline (截止时间): Your video must be handed in by midnight, January 27, 2023.Topics of Discussion:
●Migration ●Sustainable (可持续的) Development ●Values and Beliefs
Prizes
Winners will be announced on February 4, 2023.
One winner will be invited to make his/her speech on stage on UNICEF USA’s Annual Student Summit in Washington, D. C. on March 16-17, 2023!
UNICEF USA will pay for all travel expenses (flights and hotels). The student will be responsible for personal meals and personal expenses. If you are under the age of 18, you will need to travel with a responsible adult chaperone (监护人). UNICEF USA will pay for the chaperone’s travel expenses as well.
How to RegisterCreate an account (账户) using this link: ed.ted.com/unicefusa.
Once your account has been created, return to the TED-Ed Student Talks page and register!
Once you’ve handed in your registration, allow 2-3 days for processing.
Once you’ve recorded your talk, upload it using the “Upload” tab in your Resource Library on the TED-Ed website.
1. What will UNICEF USA and TED-Ed welcome?A.Excellent paintings. | B.Brilliant articles. |
C.Interesting stories. | D.Creative ideas. |
A.Pay an entry fee. | B.Attend a training class. |
C.Send a speech video within 2 minutes. | D.Perform on stage in Washington, D. C. |
A.It has no age limit. | B.It focus on social issues. |
C.It provides free meals. | D.It is held every two years. |
A.On January 27, 2023. | B.On February 4, 2023. |
C.On April 18, 2023. | D.On March 16-17, 2023. |
A.visit TED-Ed’s website | B.send an e-mail |
C.sign up in a library | D.call workers from TED |
A.confidence | B.impression | C.appearance | D.expression |
3 . Foreign visitors to the UK might be disappointed when they learn that not everyone there speaks like Harry Potter and his friends. Usually, there’s an assumption by many non-Brits that everyone in Britain speaks with what’s known as a Received Pronunciation (RP,标准发音) accent, also called “the Queen’s English”. However, while many people do talk this way, most Britons speak in their own regional accents (口音).
Scouse, Glaswegian and Black Country — from Liverpool, Glasgow and the West Midlands — are just three of the countless non-RP accents that British people speak with. There are even differences in accents between towns or cities just 30 kilometers apart. What is even more disappointing is that not speaking in a RP accent may mean a British person is judged and even treated differently in their everyday life.
In a 2015 study by The University of South Wales, videos of people reading a passage in three different UK accents were shown to a second group of people. The group then rated how intelligent they thought the readers sounded. The lowestrated accent was Brummie, native to people from Birmingham, a city whose accent is considered working class.
However, there is no need to be disappointed though you are not speaking in a RP accent. In fact, doing the opposite may even give you strength.
Kong Seongjae, 25, is an Internet celebrity from Seoul. After studying in the UK, he picked up several regional accents. He’s now famous for his online videos, where he shows off the various accents he’s learned. “British people usually get really excited when I use some of their local dialect words, and they become much friendlier. I think it makes a bit of bond between local people and foreigners to speak in their local accent,” he said.
So if you’re working on perfecting your British accent, try to speak like someone from Liverpool, Glasgow or Birmingham. You may not sound like Harry Potter, but you are likely to make more friends.
1. What can we infer from Paragraph 1?A.Non-Brits usually hold that all Britons speak in a RP accent. |
B.Only “the Queen’s English” is accepted in the UK. |
C.Foreign visitors are disappointed at their on spoken English. |
D.Any Received Pronunciation around the world is also called “the Queen’s English”. |
A.Favored by foreign visitors to the UK. | B.Closest to the RP accent. |
C.Smart and easy to understand. | D.Spoken by people of lower class. |
A.Speaking in a RP accent. | B.Speaking in regional accents. |
C.Speaking the Brummie accent. | D.Speaking like Harry Potter. |
A.A study about the most intelligent accent in Britain. |
B.A comparison between different British accents. |
C.How much British people value the RP accent. |
D.The influence of regional accents on people’s lives. |
A.to whom | B.for which | C.with whom | D.around which |
5 . Afroz Shah, a lawyer in Mumbai, hasn’t had a weekend off in four years. But he hasn’t spent this time preparing for
His mission? Saving the world’s oceans from
It’s a calling he found in 2015 after moving to a community in Mumbai called Versova Beach. He had played there as a child and was
“The whole beach was like a
In October 2015, Shah began
For Shah, the work has always been a
He’s now spent 209 weekends on this mission,
“This world talks too much. I think we must talk
A.teaching | B.court | C.housework | D.cleaning |
A.river | B.soil | C.plastic | D.oil |
A.upset | B.excited | C.delighted | D.hesitant |
A.grown | B.changed | C.reserved | D.protected |
A.pure | B.golden | C.shiny | D.visible |
A.carpet | B.curtain | C.painting | D.photograph |
A.temporary | B.permanent | C.ugly | D.pretty |
A.sticks to | B.keeps off | C.gives back | D.ends up |
A.killer | B.cleaner | C.guest | D.decoration |
A.sweeping | B.attacking | C.visiting | D.beautifying |
A.pulling | B.thinking | C.picking | D.looking |
A.came | B.failed | C.went | D.spread |
A.involved | B.lived | C.stuck | D.paid |
A.easy | B.tough | C.personal | D.general |
A.known | B.regarded | C.decided | D.honored |
A.cause | B.case | C.position | D.fame |
A.requiring | B.rejecting | C.inviting | D.inspiring |
A.originally | B.finally | C.politically | D.theoretically |
A.fewer | B.less | C.better | D.worse |
A.honor | B.beauty | C.hope | D.love |
6 . more than 21,000 km, the Great Wall built over 2,000 years ago is famous around the world.
A.Measuring | B.To measure | C.Measured | D.Having measured |
A.besides | B.without | C.beyond | D.despite |
8 . It is generally assumed that one can’t have too many friends. But it seems that there is a natural limit to the number of people we stay in touch with. A study found that when we make new friends, by starting a new job or going to university, we downgrade or even drop old ones. And while the friends may change, the number stays almost the same.
Oxford University researcher Felix Reed-Tsochas asked 24 students in the final months of school to list all their friends and relatives and say how close to them they were. The pupils filled in the questionnaire (问卷) twice more after starting work or going to university. They were also given free mobile phones and agreed that researchers could use their bills to work out who they called, when and for how long.
Putting the two pieces of information together showed, unsurprisingly, that most people have a small circle of close friends, who they spend most of their time talking to. This inner circle is surrounded by group after group of ever more distant friends. As the volunteers’ lives changed, this overall pattern, including the number of best friends, remained almost the same, meaning that some close friends from childhood were dropped or downgraded as new friendships were built.
Dr Reed-Tsochas said, “Maybe my best friend is no longer the same person but the amount of time I allocate (分配) to my best friend is still the same.” He added that this finding suggests that even with the coming of modern technology we are only capable of forming a limited number of true friendships.
Chester University researcher Dr Sam Roberts said, “Our results are likely to reflect limitations in the ability of humans to keep emotionally close relationships both because of limited time and because the emotional capital (情绪资本) that individuals can allocate between family members and friends is limited.”
1. According to Paragraph 1, what is a popular belief about making friends?A.A friend in need is a friend indeed. | B.We should treat friends as our family. |
C.The more friends we make, the better. | D.A friend to everybody is a friend to nobody. |
A.Checking the volunteers’ call records. | B.Learning about the volunteers’ hobbies. |
C.Tracking the volunteers’ job performance. | D.Interviewing the volunteers’ schoolmates. |
A.One’s attitude to friendship remains the same. |
B.People attach great importance to friendships. |
C.People rarely drop their old friends to make new ones. |
D.The number of one’s best friends doesn’t change much. |
A.To add background information. | B.To give a possible explanation. |
C.To offer some suggestions. | D.To introduce a new topic. |
A.which | B.in which | C.where | D.in what |