1 . Festivals in March Around the World in 2024
SXSW Festival, USA
8th-16th March, 2024
SXSW is a famous festival in Austin. This media festival features plenty of film, music, and comedy events. SXSW also hosts tech panels (讨论会). Therefore, you have an opportunity to interact with celebrities and well-known businessmen. Austin is also famous for its outstanding drink and food! Travelers of all ages and interests can find something to enjoy at SXSW.
Pasifika Festival, New Zealand
9th-10th March, 2024
The Pasifika Festival showcases Pacific Island cultures. It takes place in Auckland where you can see contemporary art, music, dance, and cuisine from various Pacific communities. You’ll be able to witness and gain a deeper understanding about cultures like Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, and Maori, among others.
St Patrick’s Day, Ireland
14th-17th March, 2024
St Patrick’s Day celebrates Irish culture, music, food, and entertainment. Wrap up the party on St Patrick’s Day with a massive street carnival on 17th March. You’ll find parades, vendors (商贩), live music stages and fun across the centre of Dublin. You will find festivities all over Ireland, not just in the capital city.
Cape Town Jazz Festival, South Africa
22nd-31st March, 2024
For over twenty years, the Festival has attracted nearly 40, 000 people annually to its five major venues. It features music by dozens of musicians worldwide. Performers play Jazz, R&B, rap and so on. Enjoy the area before and after the Festival. Cape Town has extremely beautiful art and culture, restaurants, bars and outdoor activities.
1. Where can people attend a street carnival according to the text?| A．In Ireland. | B．In South Africa. | C．In the USA. | D．In New Zealand. |
| A．Pasifika Festival. | B．SXSW Festival. |
| C．St Patrick’s Day. | D．Cape Town Jazz Festival. |
| A．Attend technical panels. | B．Enjoy beautiful music. |
| C．Meet well-known people. | D．Appreciate contemporary art. |
2 . Art galleries you can visit for free with your Paris Pass
Centre Pompidou
Normally €7.00 Wednesday-Monday: 11 AM-10 PMCentre Pompidou is a must-see attraction when you’re visiting Paris. Featuring late 19th-20th century art, the museum has collection of over 50,000 works, including movements from Fauvism, Cubism, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism.
Musée Gustave Moreau
Normally €13.00 Wednesday- Monday: 10 AM-6 PMMusée Gustave Moreau was designed by the painter himself and includes his private apartment and the large gallery he built to display his work. The apartment is preserved exactly as it was 100 years ago.
Musée de l’Orangerie
Normally €9.00 Wednesday-Monday: 9 AM-6 PMThe museum is best known for its association with the famous Impressionist painter Claude Monet and his Water Lilies series of paintings. Before it was an art gallery housing some of the most famous pieces in history, Musée de l’Orangerie was used as a storehouse and a home for mobilized soldiers.
Musée d’Orsay
Normally €14.00 Tuesday-Sunday: 9:30 AM-6 PMMusée d’Orsay was an old turn-of-the-century railway station that was built on the site of the Palais d’Orsay. Exemplifying the architecture of the Beaux-Arts movement, Musée d’Orsay is one of Paris’ most popular art galleries and houses art and sculpture from 1848 to 1915.
1. How much is the admission to Centre Pompidou without a Paris Pass?| A．€7.00. | B．€9.00. | C．€13.00. | D．€14.00. |
| A．Centre Pompidou. | B．Musée Gustave Moreau. |
| C．Musée de l’Orangerie. | D．Musée d’Orsay. |
| A．An art gallery. | B．A storehouse. |
| C．A railway station. | D．A personal apartment. |
3 . The World-Famous Nine
By Ben Guterson, illustrated by Kristina Kister
Zander’s grandmother owns the most incredible department store in the world. When a string of mysterious accidents start happening at the store, Zander’s grandmother tells him that a monster called Darkbloom may have returned. The monster, which can control people, wants a magical object that disappeared from the store decades ago. Zander notices that walls on many floors contain mysterious symbols and takes them down in his notebook. Will the 11-year-old boy be able to solve the puzzle and secure the object before Darkbloom does? Packed with suspense, fascination, and a family drama, this mystery may remind you of a cross between Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Ask the Author
The Week: What inspired this book?
Ben Guterson: When I was growing up, Seattle had two big department stores. Something about these big buildings held many possibilities for mystery and discovery to me.
The Week: Why is Zander close to his grandmother?
Ben Guterson: I didn’t want Zander to be alone, so he’s got his loving grandmother there to give him some guidance and keep him safe.
The Week: Do you enjoy mysteries?
Ben Guterson: Yes, I like stories with a mysterious feel to them. I don’t think I have ever been drawn to straightforward realism.
1. What can we learn about Zander?| A．He grows up in Seattle. | B．He lives alone at a store. |
| C．He wishes to be a magician. | D．He wants to defeat Darkbloom. |
| A．A kid loving true-life stories. | B．A kid enjoying fictional works. |
| C．A kid interested in grandma’s dishes. | D．A kid drawn to online store shopping. |
| A．A writer’s profile. | B．An interview outline. |
| C．A children’s story. | D．A book recommendation. |
4 . Some buildings can leave you wondering how on earth they were built. Jaw-dropping architecture is not new. We’re still amazed that the Great Pyramid in Egypt was built 4,500 years ago! Read on for more recent examples of innovative 4 buildings constructed using technology developed in the last century.
Krzywy Domek (Crooked House) Sopot, Poland
COMPLETED: 2004
SIZE: About three-fourths the size of a football field
With its warped 13 walls, curved stained glass, and roof that looks like green dragon scales, Crooked House is popular with photographers. Staring at it for too long might make you dizzy! Inside though is a typical mall and office building. People can shop in the stores, eat in the restaurants and get their haircut in a salon. A favorite feature is the Wall of Fame with signatures from Polish celebrities. It’s modeled after the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Cube Houses Rotterdam, Netherlands
COMPLETED: 1984
SIZE: About one-fourth the size of a basketball court
The 38 Cube Houses are a popular attraction, but they are also real houses that people live in! The cubes have concrete foundations and floors with a wood-frame living space on top. Cement panels and zinc panels add visual appeal. The furniture is tailor-made to fit the odd angles where the walls meet.
Bubble Palace Cannes, France
COMPLETED: 1989
SIZE: Almost three times the size of a basketball court
This house may look like a space colony but it’s really a 10-bedroom palace. Made of cave-like bubbles forming a labyrinth (迷宫), it also has ponds, waterfalls, swimming pools, an outdoor theater that seats 500 people, and views of the Mediterranean Sea.
Wonderworks Pigeon Forge, Tenessee
COMPLETED: 2006 (Other locations followed)
SIZE: About nine-tenths the size of a football field
Looking at the cracks in this building, you might think, is it about to crumble? And how do they get palm trees and grass to grow upside down? But it’s all an illusion. This indoor amusement park is actually pretty normal. The upside-down features are just for show. Inside are more than 100 hands-on science exhibits and activities, including a laser-tag zone, a hurricane-force wind tunnel, a zero-gravity astronaut-training ride, and a three-story ropes course.
1. Which building has the smallest size?| A．Wonderworks. | B．Cube Houses. |
| C．Bubble Palace. | D．Krzywy Domek. |
| A．The Wall of Fame with signatures from Polish celebrities. |
| B．The tailor-made furniture to fit the strange angles. |
| C．An illusion of palm trees and grass growing upside down. |
| D．A labyrinth formed by cave-like bubbles. |
| A．A textbook. | B．A tour brochure. | C．A magazine. | D．A report. |
5 . Sometimes it takes a work of art to give the inspiration for advances in science. For example, Elon Musk’s dream of humans living on other planets was first inspired by Isaac Asimov’s Foundation book series. Let’s explore some of the technologies from science fiction that have been brought to life.
※Remote control
Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune features a small flying robot device that is piloted remotely, one of the earliest appearances of drones (无人机) in science fiction. With the first permit for commercial drone use in the US given in 2006, drones became a reality, and can now be found taking on multiple roles. They provide new angles for photography, help farmers maintain their crops and are used in the military. Jeff Bezos has even supported the use of drones to deliver packages for his company Amazon, unveiling(公开) a delivery drone back in 2019.
※From thin air
Television show Star Trek, first appearing on screens in 1966, inspired science. One of the most unexpected examples may be the 3D printer. In 2019, researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, US, developed a 3D printer that shapes objects using rays (光线) of light.
They have named the printer the “replicator”, the same name as the device in the program to show their inspiration. The device uses light to alter the density (密度) of resin (树脂), changing the material from a liquid to a solid in order to shape the desired object.
※Starting the heart
One of the first sci-fi novels, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley has had a huge impact on science. Earl Bakken, the inventor of the pacemaker (起搏器), a device placed into the chest that helps the heart to pump blood using small electrical impulses (脉冲), was inspired by the 1931 movie adaptation of the book. “What intrigued me the most… was the creative spark of Dr Frankenstein’s electricity,” Bakken told the Atlantic.
1. Why does Jeff Bezos want to use drones?| A．To transport packages. | B．To guard military sites. |
| C．To seed and water crops. | D．To snap breathtaking pictures. |
| A．It came into use in 1966. |
| B．It is used to print anything. |
| C．It can change the density of a desired object. |
| D．It has been named after a device in Star Trek. |
| A．They are all based on electricity. |
| B．They are all invented by famous CEOs. |
| C．They are all brought to life from science fiction. |
| D．They are all used for commercial and medical purposes. |
6 . The open-air bookstalls (书摊) that line the River Seine are as symbolic of Paris as the Louvre or the Arc de Triomphe. But most of the boxy, dark green stalls must be temporarily removed before the 2024 Summer Olympics for what officials say are security reasons.
Organizers in Paris are aiming to bring back magnificence to the Games, which begin on July 26. The opening ceremony will take place not in a stadium, but along the Seine, with thousands of Olympic athletes riding on a flotilla (船队)of 160 boats before hundreds of thousands of visitors on the river’s banks. The ceremony’s unusual format poses security headaches, for both the International Olympic committee and the Paris police, who said they had concerns that bombs could be hidden in the stalls.
The booksellers, known as “les bouquinistes”, have said they will not compromise, calling the order issued by the Paris police chief last week an affront to the French capital’s history and soul. “Paris without the bouquinistes is like Venice without the boats,” said Jean-Pierre Mathias, 76, who has had a stall along the Seine for about four decades.
Open every day from morning until dusk, the bouquinistes are both a scene along the riverside and a symbol of Paris’s literary culture, attracting curious tourists and locals looking for rare books. The tradition dates back to at least the 17th century and by the 19th century, Napoleon gave approval to the bookstalls, popular with intellectuals and writers, and they became permanent.
The city’s mayor (市长), Anne Hidalgo, initially highlighted the booksellers’ importance to the city and suggested an alternative plan that would keep the stall s in place once the police confirmed they were not a security threat. But that plan was no longer under consideration because the police declared it necessary to remove the stalls for safety, a spokeswoman for Ms. Hidalgo said on Tuesday.
1. The bookstalls must be removed before the Olympics due to ________.| A．traffic crowdedness | B．audience attention | C．potential danger | D．ceremony chaos |
| A．Doubt. | B．Shame. | C．Claim. | D．Appeal. |
| A．Objective. | B．Indifferent. | C．Approving. | D．Opposed. |
| A．Paris bookstalls, a symbol of French culture |
| B．Paris bookstalls, a welcomed tourist attraction |
| C．Paris bookstalls gaining support from citizens |
| D．Paris bookstalls facing the relocation order |
7 . Birthdays are especially important to the very young and the very old. On their birthdays, people receive birthday cards and birthday presents from their family and friends. Children’s cards often have a large number on them showing how old they are. Cards for adults have pictures of flowers or scenery, or humorous or rude cartoons. Inside there is usually a simple greeting, such as “Happy Birthday” or “Many Happy Returns of the Day.”
In the US, children who have their birthdays during the school year take a cake to school and have a small party with their classmates. In Britain, children sometimes get Bumped (lifted off the ground horizontally and put down again sharply) by their friends.
In the US, the 16th birthday is called sweet 16. It is the age at which a person can get a US driver’s license, and some wealthier parents give their children a car as a present. At 18, in Britain and in the US, young people become adults and many have a big party. In most parts of the US, 21 is the age at which people can drink alcohol legally.
In Britain, people celebrate 21st birthday less. Many adults dislike getting older and a few lie about their age. But in general older people are now much more willing to tell others their age. You may see a sign by the side of a road saying: “Dave Ell is 40 today!”, put there by Dave’s friends. At about 65, people retire, and those who have reached this age are called senior citizens. Few people live to be 100, so a 100th birthday is very special. In Britain, people reaching this age may receive cards containing a printed message from the Queen.
1. What’s the main characteristic of children’s birthday cards?| A．They are full of pictures of scenery. |
| B．There are some flowers on them. |
| C．There is a large number on them. |
| D．They have greetings written on them. |
| A．The 40th birthday is very special. |
| B．Many adults like lying about their age. |
| C．Dave’s friends like playing jokes on him. |
| D．Older people don’t mind telling others their age now. |
| A．be called a senior citizen |
| B．refuse to talk about his age |
| C．receive a card from the Queen |
| D．be invited to dinner with the Queen |
| A．Bars in the US are forbidden to sell alcohol to young people of 21. |
| B．In Britain, 18 means young people become adults. |
| C．Young people will get a car as the 16th birthday present in the US. |
| D．British young men love to celebrate the 21st birthday. |
8 . FREE ONLINE FIRST AID COURSE
Welcome to our online first aid course. Anyone can take this training online and learn more about lifesaving first aid. We provide this first aid training for no charge.
Simply work your way through our online first aid modules (模块) below. You must be logged in (登录) to access the course material. If you don’t have an account, then please register. Basic online first aid course
Below are the modules for our online first aid course. You do not have to take them in a specific order. However, if you are totally new to first aid, it may help to start at the beginning.
At the end of each module there is a first aid test where you can test your knowledge. Once you’ve completed all the modules, you can download a free first aid certificate (证书).
| Module 1 | Introduction to First Aid |
| Module 2 | The Unconscious Victim |
| Module 3 | Bleeding and Shock. |
| Module 4 | Burns |
Please remember to mark all the modules as completed otherwise you will not be able to download your basic first aid certificate. Modules marked as completed will have a green tick next to them above.
Advanced online first aid courseCompleted the above course? Why not check out our new free online advanced first aid course? This course will build upon the training and content in the basic first aid course above and will help further your knowledge on topics such as:
* Medical conditions
* Minor injuries
* Patient assessment
* Clinical observations
* The roles and responsibilities of a first aider
As always, you will receive a free first aid certificate once you complete the advanced course.
1. What is a must to learn this online course?| A．Offering a small fee for the training. | B．Having an account on this website. |
| C．Learning the course in the required order. | D．Taking a first aid test before the course. |
| A．Module 1. | B．Module 2. | C．Module 3. | D．Module 4. |
| A．It provides a paid certificate of honor. |
| B．It is intended for professional medical workers. |
| C．It teaches people how to judge patients’ condition. |
| D．It has nothing to do with basic first aid knowledge. |
| Prepare (准备) breakfast Monday to Wednesday: Mrs. Smith Thursday and Friday: Mr. Smith Saturday: Sam & Bob Sunday: Linda | Help in the kitchen Mrs. Smith cooks dinners. Mr. Smith does the dishes. Sam sets the table. Bob clears the table. Linda cleans the kitchen. |
| Tidy the living room Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: Mrs. Smith and Linda The other days: Mr. Smith and the boys. ●The kids clean their rooms every Thursday and Sunday. ●The kids take out the rubbish in turn (轮流). | |
1. When does Linda prepare breakfast?
| A．On Monday. | B．On Friday. | C．On Saturday. | D．On Sunday. |
| A．He cleans the kitchen. | B．He does the dishes. |
| C．He clears the table. | D．He cooks dinners. |
| A．Once a week. | B．Three times a week. |
| C．Twice a week. | D．Three times a month. |
10 . All students have bad times. What do they usually do when they get into trouble?
My mom is like my friend. I talk about everything to her. Whenever I have some trouble, I can get good advice from her. I have another good friend — my diary. It knows all my secrets. Talking with my two friends always makes me feel better.
—— Linda
Laughing helps me when I’m upset. I usually watch funny movies and TV shows. I also love spending my hard time with my best friend Dave. He is humorous and always makes me laugh.
—— Peter
Every time I feel bad, I go climbing alone. The study says exercising can help cheer one up (精神振奋). And the beautiful view at the top of the mountain makes me forget all my troubles. Sometimes I shout at the mountain top. It feels fantastic.
—— John
1. Linda’s ________ knows all her secrets.| A．sister | B．teacher | C．diary | D．computer |
| A．quiet | B．funny | C．careful | D．serious |
| A．goes climbing | B．watches movies |
| C．talks with his friends | D．reads books |
| A．Linda often asks her teacher for advice. |
| B．Dave often helps Peter with his homework. |
| C．John likes climbing mountains with his friends. |
| D．Exercising can help people feel good. |
