WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, England-many people are confused by what these different names mean. So what is the difference between them, if any? Getting to know a little bit about British history will help you solve this puzzle.
In the 16th century, the nearby country of Wales was joined to the Kingdom of England. Later, in the 18th century, the country Scotland was joined to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In the 19th century, the Kingdom of Ireland was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Finally, in the 20th century, the southern part of Ireland broke away from the UK, which resulted in the full name we have today: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most people just use the shortened name: “the United Kingdom” or “the UK”. People from the UK are called “British”, which means the UK is also often referred to as Britain or Great Britain.
The four countries that belong to the United Kingdom work together in some areas. They use the same flag, known as the Union Jack, as well as share the same currency and military defence. However, they also have some differences. For example, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all have different education systems and legal systems. They also have their own traditions, like their own national days and national dishes. And they even have their own football teams for competitions like the World Cup!
The United Kingdom has a long and interesting history to explore, which can help you understand much more about the country and its traditions. Almost everywhere you go in the UK, you will be surrounded by evidence of four different groups of people who took over at different times throughout history. The first group, the Romans, came in the first century. Some of their great achievements included building towns and roads. Next, the Anglo-Saxons arrived in the fifth century. They introduced the beginnings of the English language, and changed the way people built houses. The Vikings came in the eighth century, left behind lots of new vocabulary, and also the names of many locations across the UK. The last group were the Normans. They conquered England after the well-known Battle of Hastings in the 11th century. They had castles built all around England, and made changes to the legal system. The Normans were French, so many French words slowly entered into the English language.
There is so much more to learn about the interesting history and culture of the United Kingdom. Studying the history of the country will make your visit much more enjoyable. The capital city London is a great place to start, as it is an ancient port city that has a history dating all the way back to Roman times. There are countless historic sites to explore, and lots of museums with ancient relics from all over the UK. The UK is a fascinating mix of history and modern culture, with both new and old traditions. If you keep your eyes open, you will be surprised to find that you can see both its past and its present.
1. Part 1(Paras.1—2):Part 2(Para.3):
Part 3(Paras.4—5):
2. What are the four countries of the United Kingdom?Which two were the first to be joined together?
3. What are two chief advantages of studying the history of a country?
2 . THE VIRTUAL CHOIR
Imagine having the opportunity to sing together with hundreds of other people while you are at home alone. You can do this in a virtual choir. Virtu al choir members record themselves while they perform alone on video. These videos are uploaded onto the Internet, and then they are put together into one video that you can see online — a virtual choir. Anyone can take part in a virtual choir from anywhere — all you need is a video camera and an Internet connection. You do not even need a studio. A virtual choir helps connect ordinary people together. Many people do not have close friends or contacts who have the same interest in music. Many others do not have the chance to join a local choir. A virtual choir enables them to add their voices to those of other individuals and become part of the global community. It has proved to be a positive influence on the lives of many people. As one virtual choir member said, “Music helps me to …forget my problems. With music, I become someone else.”
The virtual choir was the idea of award-winning composer and conductor Eric Whitacre. Born in the USA on 2 January 1970, Whitacre began studying music at the University of Nevada in 1988. He fell in love with Mozart’s classical music when he sang for the university choir. Moved by this music, he said, “It was like seeing color for the first time.” He graduated from university in 1995, and then received a master’s degree in musical composition from the Juilliard School in New York in 1997. Over the next 10 years, Whitacre’s original compositions began to become quite popular among choirs and singers. This led to the creation of the virtual choir.
In 2009, Whitacre received a video of a girl who was singing one of his works. Inspired, he asked his fans to make videos, which he then joined together into one performance. His first virtual choir, “Lux Aurumque”, had 185 singers from 12 different countries. It has received millions of views on the Internet. Since then, the virtual choir has become a worldwide phenomenon. Whitacre’s next effort was the Virtual Youth Choir for UNICEF, which was first seen on stage on 23 July 2014 in the UK. Altogether, 2,292 young people from 80 countries joined in to sing Whitacre’s song “What If”.
The virtual choir is a wonderful way for people around the world to sing with one voice and thus make the world a better place.
1. What can people do to record themselves while they perform alone on video?2. What should you prepare if you want to take part in a virtual choir?
3. Who put forward the idea of the virtual choir?
4. What led to the creation of the virtual choir?
5. What inspired Whitacre to ask his fans to make videos?
6. 课文结构图。
1. Why do people write poems?
2. Are poems good for our life?
3. What can we get from poems?
4. What have you learnt from the reading passage?
4 . WHAT’S IN A NAME?
The United Kingdom, Great Britain, Britain, England-many people are confused by what these different names mean. So what is the difference between them, if any? Getting to know a little bit about British history will help you solve this puzzle.
In the 16th century, the nearby country of Wales was joined to the Kingdom of England. Later, in the 18th century, the country Scotland was joined to create the Kingdom of Great Britain. In the 19th century, the Kingdom of Ireland was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Finally, in the 20th century, the southern part of Ireland broke away from the UK, which resulted in the full name we have today: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most people just use the shortened name: “the United Kingdom” or “the UK”. People from the UK are called “British”, which means the UK is also often referred to as Britain or Great Britain.
The four countries that belong to the United Kingdom work together in some areas. They use the same flag, known as the Union Jack, as well as share the same currency and military defence. However, they also have some differences. For example, England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland all have different education systems and legal systems. They also have their own traditions, like their own national days and national dishes. And they even have their own football teams for competitions like the World Cup!
The United Kingdom has a long and interesting history to explore, which can help you understand much more about the country and its traditions. Almost everywhere you go in the UK, you will be surrounded by evidence of four different groups of people who took over at different times throughout history. The first group, the Romans, came in the first century. Some of their great achievements included building towns and roads. Next, the Anglo-Saxons arrived in the fifth century. They introduced the beginnings of the English language, and changed the way people built houses. The Vikings came in the eighth century, left behind lots of new vocabulary, and also the names of many locations across the UK. The last group were the Normans. They conquered England after the well-known Battle of Hastings in the 11th century. They had castles built all around England, and made changes to the legal system. The Normans were French, so many French words slowly entered into the English language.
There is so much more to learn about the interesting history and culture of the United Kingdom. Studying the history of the country will make your visit much more enjoyable. The capital city London is a great place to start, as it is an ancient port city that has a history dating all the way back to Roman times. There are countless historic sites to explore, and lots of museums with ancient relics from all over the UK. The UK is a fascinating mix of history and modern culture, with both new and old traditions. If you keep your eyes open, you will be surprised to find that you can see both its past and its present.
1. 读第三段并填空。| the similarities of the four countries | the differences of the four countries |
| flag known as | |
| currency | traditions: |
| military | football teams |
3. In the 19th century, which kingdom was added to create the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland?
4. What were the achievements left behind Romans?
5. Which group of people made changes to the legal system? Besides this, what did they do when they came?
As a kid, I dreamed of becoming a marine biologist and I lived out this fantasy by setting up aquariums(鱼缸) at home. Then, at 20, I was introduced to photographer David Liittschwager, who hired me to help him with a magazine assignment on marine life.
David’s assignment was to document the amazing biodiversity found in the ocean. My role was to collect species for him to photograph. Every night, I would cast a floating lamp. Like moths drawn to a flame, mysterious creatures would emerge from the depths in search of this light. I’d then set up aquariums to house them as they waited for David to take their shot.
Those evenings made me feel as if I were on another planet. I had never imagined such strange life-forms could exist in our oceans. But I didn’t grasp the true magic of what was in front of me until I saw the photographs David took.
The biggest surprise was his image of a baby flounder. I caught this fish by accident. Only later did I notice its two tiny eyeballs staring back at me. But David’s photograph of this flounder revealed a universe of detail that even my eager eyes had missed. His macro lens magnified its ribs. The lightning-fast exposure froze its motion. A precisely aimed light released the rainbow hidden in its skin. And the black background removed all distractions to focus our attention on the quiet beauty at hand.
Years after that project, I was snorkeling(潜水) on a shallow reef. Out of the darkness, another baby flounder emerged and settled on my mask. This time I knew what to look for. Before working for David, I had assumed the goal of photography was simply to reproduce an observation so that others could share the same experience. It had never occurred to me that photography could expand our visual perception and therefore teach us to see the world anew.
2. Why was David’s image of a baby flounder the biggest surprise to the author?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
▶Encountering a baby flounder while snorkeling deepened the author’s understanding that photography could reproduce an observation.
4. What can help you see the world anew?(In about 40 words)
Gestures refer to the communication where visible bodily actions are used to communicate important messages. They include movement of hands, face, or other parts of the body. Gestures benefit our lives a lot. Take language learning.
In some languages, certain syllables (音节) within words are pronounced with markedly more weight than others, called lexical stress. Languages such as English commonly feature lexical stress. For example, the word “accent” involves more emphasis on the first syllable, “ac”, than the second, “cent”. Native speakers of Chinese, however, don’t use lexical stress and therefore find it difficult to learn languages that feature it.
Making any hand gesture could help learners recognize lexical stress, which has been proved by Xing Tian’s team. They selected 124 native Chinese speakers, who watched videos of people performing hand movements that were synced(同步的) to recordings of the same English words. In addition, they also found when more pronounced gestures matched the stressed syllable, the participants were particularly good at identifying it.
The research involved several experiments, which makes it difficult to combine the results. Nevertheless, Tian estimates that the use of gestures helped identify lexical stress between 10 and 15 percent more accurately compared with no gestures at all, and how much help depends on the nature of gestures.
A follow-up study conducted by another team exposed the same Chinese speakers to Russian words and got similar results. “Our findings highlight the functional role of gestures in enhancing speech learning, suggesting practical strategies for language teaching and learning,” the researchers write in their paper.
The benefits of gestures extend far beyond teaching and learning. Since gestures are deeply integrated into our daily lives, they deserve more of our attention.
1. What do gestures mean?2. What did Xing Tian’s team find in their study?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Gestures help learn lexical stress, but the degree to which they help depends on the complexity of the lexical stress.
4. Besides what is mentioned in the passage, how do gestures benefit you in your life? (In about 40words)
You are watching your favorite TV show when a commercial break starts. First you see an ad for candy. Then there is one for fast food. Your stomach growls. Suddenly, all you can think about is how much you need a snack.
If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. Researchers from McMaster University in Canada studied the effects of junk food ad. The researchers examined the effects of advertising junk food on more than 6000 kids through TV commercials and other types of media. They found that kids made unhealthy food and drink choices as quickly as 30 minutes after seeing the ads.
Food and drink ads are everywhere from TV to the Internet. Companies want to make sure you know about their products. They spend nearly 1. 8 billion a year on food ads aimed at kids according to a report.
The Nielsen Company tracked the number of food ads that kids saw in 2015. It found that kids watched nearly 12 food ads on TV each day. Most of these ads weren’t for healthy foods. In fact, on average. kids saw only one ad per week for fruits and vegetables. Instead, most of the ads were for fast food, candy and sugary drinks.
Jennifer Harris, a professor at the University of Connecticut, says this is a big part of the problem. “Unhealthy foods are not things we should be encouraging kids to cat more often”. Harris says. “But unfortunately those are the products being advertised to them the most”.
Health experts say it’s OK to treat yourself to a cookie once in a while. But what can you do to keep from having an unhealthy snack every time you see an ad for junk food? Harris says it’s important to learn to spot the techniques companies use in their ads, tell their kids what is going on and help kids think about whether these products are good for them.
1. What did researchers from MaMaster University find?2. What conclusion can you draw from the findings of Nielsen Company?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
To avoid negative impacts of advertisements for unhealthy food, parents should keep their kids from watching these kinds of advertisements.
4. Please briefly describe what you can do to reduce the negative impact of advertising on your life. (In about 40 words)
As the saying goes, “time waits for no man”. Time is always against us, and we just can’t stop it. Maybe that’s why some of us are always running late for appointments. But if timekeeping is not what you’re good at, don’t stress. There might be a good reason for your lack of punctuality.
People’s attitudes to being on time vary. Some clock-watch and make sure they’re bang on time for a meeting. It is, after all, rude to be late, and if you can make it on time, why can’t everyone else? But if, like me, you want to make every second count, you might try to squeeze as much as you can into the time you have available. However, when your schedule doesn’t run to plan, your punctuality inevitably slips.
People who lack promptness have been described as “time benders”. Author Grace Pacie told the BBC that “they’re the people who don’t want to be late, but they have a strange resistance to being early, and they don’t allow enough time.” They assume their journey to an appointment will always go smoothly, and the train will always be on time!
Perceptions of unpunctual people are almost always negative — even if sometimes wrong. Experts say: Being consistently late might not be your fault. It could be your type. The punctually-challenged often share personality characteristics, such as optimism, low levels of self-control, anxiety, or a penchant for thrill-seeking. It is also possible people are late so not to be conspicuous and to avoid the anxious wait for others to turn up.
Maybe we latecomers should make more of an effort and follow the advice I heard to not “try” to be on time but “decide” to be on time.
1. What does “time benders” refer to?2. What are the personality characteristics of time benders?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
According to Grace Pacie, time benders don’t care about being late so they don’t allow enough time.
4. What do you usually do to be on time? (In about 40 words)
If you are a psychology enthusiast, you have probably heard of the famous marshmallow test (棉花糖实验). In this task, kids are given a marshmallow, and are told that they can eat that marshmallow now, or wait a little while, and have two marshmallows instead. Some kids eat the marshmallow immediately, but most try their best to wait for two.
When the researchers followed up with those kids later in life, children who waited longer had better life outcomes: more academic success, better social behavior, and even markers of better health. They believe those children who keep waiting are the ones with the most self-control-a key factor in success, and that’s why they are so successful later.
But what if the behavior in the marshmallow test has more to do with cultural norms than self-control?
A 2022 study tested the idea that children may decide how long to wait for rewards based on what they are accustomed to waiting for in their culture. For example, in the United States, there is no widespread mealtime custom of waiting until everyone is served. In Japan, however, there is.
Because of this difference in norms, the researchers hypothesized that Japanese children would wait longer in the marshmallow test than the American children. This is exactly what they found later in experiments.
But this isn’t conclusive evidence; after all, maybe Japanese children actually have better self-control, or maybe they differ from American children in other ways that could explain the result.
In the U. S., gifts are usually given on special occasions and children usually have to wait before they can unwrap their presents. In Japan, however, gift-giving happens more often, and children usually open presents immediately.
Given these cultural differences, scientists expected that if they ran the test with gifts instead of marshmallows, American kids would wait longer. Once again, their hypothesis was correct.
This is a powerful result because it demonstrates the importance of culture and habit in shaping behavior. If a child waits only few minutes before giving up on two marshmallows but much longer to unwrap a gift, can we really say that child lacks self-control? I don’t think so. I think it just means that they are adjusting well to their social settings.
1. According to the researchers, why do children who wait longer have better life outcomes?2. What was the purpose of the 2022 study?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
When scientists ran the test with gifts, American kids behaved the same as they did in the test with marshmallows.
4. Besides the cases mentioned in the passage, please give one or two examples to show how culture shapes your behavior. (In about 40 words)
Dave had loved basketball for as long as he could remember and he had never had a day without playing it. At primary school and junior high school he joined basketball clubs, attended training programs and watched basketball games, from which he learned the moves of the star players, wishing to play in a professional team like them and shine on the court.
Now as a senior high school student, however, his dream of becoming a professional player was dimming (变暗) because he was only of average height. He had to give up the hope of joining the school team. The guys on the school team were all tall boys who played matches and won honors for the school. They were like heroes. Dave watched them play and cheered them but he knew he would never be one of them.
Dave felt it a pity not to be tall enough, but this didn’t stop him from pouring his passion into basketball. He just played for the love of the sport. He played in the school gym with other boys or by himself every day, even during holidays and weekends, when it was open for two hours in the morning. He enjoyed every minute on the court making every effort to play better.
It was one Saturday morning. Dave was playing in the gym by himself, as all the other boys were busy with other weekend affairs. Then he noticed a tall boy approaching. It was Lankas. Everybody knows him as captain of the school basketball team. “Hi, Lankas,” Dave greeted him. “My name is Dave.” “Hi, Dave,” Lankas replied as he got closer. “Nice to see you here. Do you need an opponent (对手) to play against?” Dave was shocked, frozen right there, unable to believe his ears but somehow, he answered, “Why not?” So, a game of two players began. During the game, Dave went all out to play against this opponent, forgetting all about his height. It was a game he could play to his heart’s content. It was more like an enjoyment than a challenge. “Can we meet again?” Lankas asked.
1. Why did Dave give up the hope of joining the school team? (3 points)2. What made Dave keep playing basketball? (3 points)
3. What might happen after the game? (4 points)
