Tears are good for your eyes. In fact, without them, your eyes wouldn’t even be able to move. Some people say tears help us in other ways, too. Maybe you know someone who likes to watch sad movies in order to “have a good cry”. It hasn’t been proven, but tears may be good not only for your eyes but also for your emotional health as well.
We generally only notice tears when we cry, but we have them in our eyes all the time. Tears affect how we see the world while at the same time protecting our eyes from it. Without this liquid covering them, our eyes would be at risk of infection. In addition, we need tears in order to see. The cornea (角膜) of the eye does not have a perfectly smooth surface. Tears fill in the holes in the cornea and make it smooth so that we can see clearly. Without tears, the world would look very strange to us.
There are three types of tears, and they are called basal, reflex, and emotional tears. These three types are different not only in purpose but also in composition.
Tom Lutz, the author of Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears, writes, “Throughout history, and in every culture, ... everyone everywhere cries at some time.” Even men and women who say they never cry can usually remember crying as children. Most of us probably think it’s normal for men or women to cry at certain times, and at such times, we may even encourage them to cry. For example, it’s no surprise when someone cries during a sad movie, and we often expect people to cry when a family member dies. However, we don’t always take this view of tears. Sometimes adults who cry — or even children who do — lose the respect of others. For example, what would you think of an adult who cried over losing a card game? Most people are aware of the social rules about when, where, and why it’s OK to cry. These rules generally differ for children and adults, and often for men and women. They depend on things such as family, culture, and religion, and they change over time.
Some people think it’s not just OK to cry but actually healthy to let the tears flow. Doctors in Greece over 2,500 years ago thought that tears came from the brain and that everyone needed to let them out. Today, many people still believe in getting tears out. They say that through crying, we get rid of emotions we have stored up, which is good for our mental health. Some people report that they feel better after crying. This could be because of the chemicals in emotional tears. One chemical is a type of endorphin, a painkiller that the body naturally produces. Emotional tears increase the amount of endorphin that gets to the brain because tears flow from the eye into the nose and pass to the brain that way. This painkiller may make a person less aware of sad or angry feelings, and that could explain why someone feels better after “a good cry”.
1. When do we have tears in our eyes?
2. How do tears help us see clearly?
3. How many kinds of tears do we have?
4. Please list at least two things that are related to the social rules of crying.
5. In which country did doctors over 2,500 years ago believe that tears came from the brain?
Perhaps he was a defender,
Protecting France.
Perhaps he was an aggressor(侵略者),
Occupying others.
Perhaps he was a revolutionary,
Propagating democratic idea(民主思想).
Perhaps he was a traitor(背叛者),
Becoming an empire builder.
Perhaps he was a god of war,
frustrating London.
Perhaps he was a loser,
Defeated by wellington.
Perhaps he is a man of dubious merit(功过难辨),
But remember his word,
“Able was I ere I saw Elba.”
By Li Jiahang
1. Who does “he” refer to in the poetry?2. What’s the type of this poem? What are the characteristics of this type of poetry?
3. What words can best describe “him?”
Puffin Books, the publisher of UK writer Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books like Matila and The Witches, came under fire in February due to their choice to edit out hundreds of offensive or outdated words such as “fat” and “ugly” in the late author’s stories.
Although the publisher defended the changes, saying that they were meant to allow DahI’s books to continue to be enjoyed by all today, many were still angered by the move. Notable figures like writer Salman Rushdie called the changes “absurd censorship (荒谬的审查)” while UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that “it’s important that works of literature and works of fiction are preserved”, noted Sky News.
DahI’s books and other children’s literature have a unique problem compared to literature for adults when it comes to preservation vs adaptation. Children can be vulnerable to influences which can shape the way they grow up and understand the world. According to The Conversation, “children’s literature implicitly(潜移默化地) shapes the minds of child readers by presenting particular social and culture values as normal and natural .[AKA] ‘socialization’.”
Personally, I believe in the intelligence of children to navigate and explore the world around them. It is the job of teachers, parents and other adult guardians to help children understand that books are products of their times and that authors – even the best among them – are ultimately human beings with their own flaws(缺点).
After all, just as Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America, a nonprofit organization that protects writers and freedom of expression, wrote on her Twitter, “If we start down the path of trying to correct for perceived slights(自以为的鄙视) instead of allowing readers to receive and react to books as written, we risk distorting the work of great authors and clouding the essential lens that literature offers on society.”
With this kind of understanding in mind, we can empower children with the tools for critical thinking and improve their ability to judge and sort out the contexts of what they learn and are exposed to. This is a skill needed now more than ever in an era of “fake news” and the rapid spread of fakes.
1. Why did Puffin Books decide to edit Roald Dahl’s books?2. What is the unique problem with children’s literature, according to the text?
3. What does the underlined word “distorting” most probably mean?
4. What does the author believe is important when raising children?
“When I was little, I was always enchanted (迷住) by buildings,” said Edna Blaise, 29,from Haiti, “but it was not until I started my journey in China that I realized Chinese architecture has so many things to offer.”
Blaise is currently studying architecture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Before coming to China, Blaise expected the local buildings to be in a traditional style just like the ones she would encounter when watching movies. “But after I came here, I realized that it’s more developed now,” said Blaise.
It was her interest in geometry (几何) and math as well as her love for art that prompted her to study architecture, with the subject perfectly complementing(互补) and combining these two fields. “And because China is one of the oldest civilizations...I think there’s a lot I can learn here,” Blaise said. “The technique they have is more mature than that in a lot of other countries.”
Although being a foreign student in China can lead to academic challenges, Blaise noted that her classmates were always friendly and the teachers were approachable(亲切的).“If we have a personal problem, my teacher could even tell us: You can add my WeChat...I can help you solve whatever problem you have,” she recalled. Showing her Caomo of a primary school project, the model that presents the main structures of her design. Blaise said that the teacher would keep working to improve the design with her team until the final product was completed.
“Outside of class, I like to go to” different places around the city where I can see ancient Chinese architecture like ‘Gugong’ and ‘Qianmen’. I’m hoping to find some inspiration from these beautiful landmarks,” Blaise said. She usually has her camera with her on these trips so she can capture interesting details of the buildings. By doing this, she can gradually learn from Chinese traditional architecture and incorporate traditional ideas into her designs.
“I am still finding a way to try to combine old and modern architecture together.” Blaise said, adding that she wished to employ the traditional designs in modern technology to come up with something more interesting and innovative.
1. What inspired Blaise to study architecture?2. What does paragraph 4 mainly talk about?
3. What does Blaise like to do the buildings in her outside of class?
4. What is the most suitable title for the text?
Notes: ①zoom: 快速移动 ②meteor: 流星
请根据诗歌内容，回答下列问题。
1. Where can the writer find the swings according to the poem?
2. What is the writer trying to do when he moves backwards and forwards so low at first?
3. When does the writer feel less sad?
4. What does the underlined word mean in Chinese?
5. Is a simile (比喻) used in the poem?
The Flight of Youth
By Richard Henry Stoddard
There are gains for all our losses,
There are balms ( 止痛膏) for all our pains,
But when youth, the dream, departs
It takes something from our hearts,
And it never comes again.
We are stronger, and are better,
Under, manhood's sterner (严峻的) reign (驱使).
Till we feel that something sweet
Followed youth, with flying feet,
And will never come again.
Something beautiful is vanished (使消逝),
And we sigh (叹息) for it in vain;
We behold (看到) it everywhere,
On the earth, and in the air,
But it never comes again!
1. Is this poem written using personification (拟人法)?2. When does youth take something from our hearts?
3. Which word does the poet use to describe manhood's reign?
4. Where does the poet think we can find youth?
5. What does this poem want to tell us?
I’m a 34-year-old man, married, lived in a nice house, and have a successful career as an educational consultant. But my life was not always so great. I had a learning disability from an early age. I went to a special school where I got plenty of extra help. Still, I suffered the rest of my school days in public schools.
My life improved remarkably when I discovered art. The art world gave me a chance to express myself without words. I went to a workshop and gradually got good at making things with clay(黏土). Here I learned my first important lesson: disabled as I was in language. I could still be smart and well express myself with clay. And my confidence came along.
I got my next lesson from rock climbing. It was a fun thing but I was scared from the start. I soon noticed it wasn’t a talent thing; it was practice. So I did it more. After about five years of climbing, I found myself in Yosemite Valley on a big wall. I learned that if you fall in love with something and do it all the time, you will get better at it.
Later I decided to apply my previous experience to learning how to read and write. Every day I practiced reading and writing, which I used to avoid as much as possible. After two hard years, I was literate.
Having gone through the long process with art, rock climbing, and reading and writing, now I’ve got to a point in my life where I know I am smart enough to dive into an area that is totally unknown, hard, but interesting.
1. What made the author’s school days difficult? (No more than 5 words)
2. Why did art give the author confidence? (No more than 10 words)
3. What lesson did the author learn from rock climbing? (No more than 15 words)
4. What is the meaning of the underlined part in Paragraph 4? (No more than 5 words)
5. How does the author’s story inspire you to overcome difficulties in life? Put it in your own words. (No more than 20 words)
When gaming becomes an obsession, it can become dangerous. In Hong Kong, a seventeen-year-old boy died as a result of playing his favourite game in the café where he worked. After working for eight hours, he often stayed at the café and played Diablo II. On some nights he slept for only two hours. In May 2002, he was found unconscious at a computer after playing all night. When he died later in hospital, doctors said it was because he was exhausted.
In South Korea, the dangers can come from other gamers. In the virtual world of Lineage, gamers can create new characters for themselves. High school students can become very powerful fighters and leaders. They play against doctors, businessmen and even members of dangerous gangs. But sometimes things that happen in the game affect real life. Gamers have been beaten up in real life by people they have killed online!
1. How many people play Lineage when school and work are over every day in South Korea?
2. What do people do in the virtual world of Lineage?
3. The online games mentioned in the passage are ________.
4. What does the underlined word “exhausted” mean?
5. What does the passage mainly talk about?
Biggs was sent to Wandsworth Prison, a maximum security jail. It had one very high wall to keep the prisoners in, and some guards to watch them. One afternoon in July 1965, Biggs was in the prison yard. He had been in jail for just fifteen months. A tall van（货车） stopped outside the jail, and a ladder was placed against the wall. Then a rope ladder was thrown over the wall into the prison yard. Biggs climbed up the rope ladder, jumped down into the van and escaped!
From that time on, Biggs lived on the run. After hiding in France, Spain and Australia, he finally settled in Brazil in 1970. He was a celebrity（名人） criminal. He appeared in rock videos and movies, and he sold souvenirs to tourists who came to see him. But he missed his home in Britain and, at the age of seventy-one, decided to go home. He was met at the airport by family, friends—and police.
1. Ronnie Biggs was sentenced to thirty years in jail because ________.
2. What kind of prison was Ronnie Biggs in?
3. The main idea of Paragraph 2 is ________.
4. How many countries had Ronnie Biggs been to after he escaped from Britain?
5. When was Ronnie Biggs born?
