1 . For over a century, throwing a pie into someone’s face has been a comedy element, thanks in part to Keystone. Established in 1912 by director Mack Sennett, the studio had a hand in making pie-throwing common.
This phenomenon can be traced back before the earliest days of pre-1920s silent film. The fun of seeing an elegant dessert hit an actor, and watching them react with either anger or confusion, soon made its way to the screen. In 1913, Sennett’s “Fatty” launched the first such missile in a Keystone film. Soon, the studio became known for pie-throwing trick, and the high-flying desserts flew so freely that the studio needed its own bakery to make them.
The answer turned out to be right across the street. Sarah Brener owned a variety store there, but she also supplied the studio with its pies. Sometimes, they were delicious. Charlie Chaplin said that Brener’s pies were the best in town. But often, they had to be specially made for films. As pie fights in film grew more complicated, Brener’s bakery was soon making nothing else.
Filmmakers preferred custard (蛋奶沙司) pies for throwing. They were appropriately messy and, likely less painful than a cherry pie would be to the face. But by the time the 1920s rolled around, people had grown tired of them.
Widespread pie-throwing faded, but it didn’t die completely: Comedic films and animation alike have been peppered with pieing ever since, from Bugs Bunny to the Three Stooges. In 2015, a part of film history had been re-discovered: “The Battle of the Century”, where 3,000 pies sailed through the air. It was supposed to be the pie fight to end all others, but in 1965 the film “The Great Race” promised viewers “the greatest pie fight in history.” Thousands of real pies were used.
Now, the Keystone building is a storage facility, and Brener’s bakery is long gone. But the studio’s influence lives on in film, in the occasional throwing of a pie, and on a plate on the corner of the mere remaining building that reads:“This was the birthplace of the motion picture comedy.”
1. Which of the following is true about pie-throwing?| A．By1912 it had become surprisingly common. |
| B．The audience was angry or confused while seeing it. |
| C．It stimulated citizens’ great demand for pies. |
| D．Keystone contributes to its being part of a comedy. |
| A．changed its sales policy | B．specialized in making pies |
| C．sold a variety of food besides pies | D．made its pies famous nationwide |
| A．pie-throwing was no longer appealing |
| B．more pies are used in modern films than in silent ones |
| C．viewers are dissatisfied with seeing just one scene of pie-throwing |
| D．pie-throwing can still be found in some kind of films |
| A．The future development of comedic films. | B．The history of pie-throwing in films. |
| C．The fascinating past of Keystone. | D．The birthplace of motion picture comedies. |
2 . Sometimes shipwrecks（沉船）contain sunken treasure, loads of gold or jewelry. Other shipwrecks are themselves the treasure—the stories of their ill-fated voyages creating a legend that makes them sparkle far more than any gold or precious stones.
The wreck of HMS Endurance, which has finally been located deep beneath the icy seas of Antarctica after being lost 107 years ago, was arguably the most valuable shipwreck ever sought. That’s because its discovery adds another thrilling new chapter to an already fascinating tale of perseverance and survival that has echoed down the decades and still inspires today.
Incredibly well preserved at a depth of almost two miles, the ship is little changed from the day in November 1914 when it finally sank beneath the ice. Endurance became embedded in ice while crossing Antarctica’s Weddell Sea. The video shot by underwater search vehicles shows painted timbers, an undamaged guardrail（护栏）and the name “Endurance” written above the five-pointed symbol of a polar star.
“I tell you, you would have to be made of stone not to feel a bit soft at the sight of that star and the name above,” Mensun Bound, the mission’s marine archaeologist, told the BBC. “You can see a porthole（舷窗）that is in Shackleton’s cabin. At that moment, you really do feel the breath of the great man upon the back of your neck.” Shackleton’s leadership was crucial to getting his men out alive. The reason why Shackleton is still applauded as a great man becomes obvious when you consider what he achieved in the face of disasters and hardships during his 1914-16 expedition. The practicality and humanity he showed in the face of severe situations was arguably praised.
1. What makes Endurance the most valuable shipwreck?| A．The treasure aboard. | B．Its inspiring stories. |
| C．Its undamaged guardrail. | D．The symbol of a polar star. |
| A．The floating ice is as hard as stones. |
| B．The well-preserved shipwreck is amazing. |
| C．The heroic deeds of Shackleton are touching. |
| D．The discovery of Endurance is challenging. |
| A．A book review. | B．A news report. |
| C．A biography. | D．A travel journal. |
The writing of the ancient Egyptians remained a great mystery
The Rosetta Stone was engraved with three languages. One language was Greek, but the others were forms of Egyptian writing that were unreadable at that time. The Greek writing described a law
The British seized Egypt in 1801 and transported the Rosetta Stone to the British Museum. Scholars carefully studied the writing on the Rosetta Stone, but their work proceeded slowly
In time, the scholars concluded that the law was written in hieroglyphics (象形文字) and demotic scripts. Hieroglyphics was the sacred writing of ancient Egypt and was known only by the most learned priests. Demotic was a cursive (连笔的、草书的) script that the Egyptians used for
In 1822, a French linguist named Jean Champollion matched several characters from the three texts and slowly deciphered (破译) an alphabet of hieroglyphics. Champollion concluded that hieroglyphics had originally been pictographs,
In 2003, Egypt formally requested that the British
Television past and future
Everyone knows that Scotsman John Logie Baird invented the first television: in the early1920s, he made a basic television which transmitted pictures, but he didn’t develop his idea further.
The BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation) made its first TV programmes in 1936.
From 2005, it became possible to watch TV on your mobile phone thanks to 3G technology.
| A．Most people didn’t watch as there were only about 100 television sets in Britain at that time. |
| B．However, thanks to him, the idea inspired other inventors to go further. |
| C．The first country to change from analogue to digital television was the USA in June 2009. |
| D．But not many people know that Vladimir Zworykin, a Russian inventor invented the first electronic television in 1929. |
| E．It was not until the late 20th century that TV became a household product. |
| F．Technology started to develop faster and faster in the second half of the 20th century. |
Have you ever seen an old movie called Three Coins in the Fountain? It is about three young American women
The word romance evolved in Latin from Roma to Romanicus of the Roman language, to the Old French romanz escrive,
The Romance languages
Medieval Romances were tales
What exactly is a twentieth-century romance? Does it have any relationship with the lively, popular novels written today, with their fantastic plots of love affairs? Or did the playwright Oscar Wilde have it right in The Picture of Dorian Gray: “When one is in love, one always begins by deceiving (欺骗)
6 . Freedoms challenge in the Digital Age is a serious topic. We are facing today a strange new world and we are all wondering what we are going to do with it.
Some 2, 500 years ago Greece discovered freedom. Before that there was no freedom. There were great civilizations, splendid empires, but no freedom anywhere. Egypt and Babylon were tyrannies, one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses.
In Greece, in Athens a little city in a little country, there were no helpless masses. And Athenians willingly obeyed the written laws which they themselves passed, and the unwritten, which must be obeyed if free men live together. They must show each other kindness and pity and the many qualities without which life would be very painful unless one chose to live alone in the desert. The Athenians never thought that a man was free if he could do what he wanted A man was free if he was self-controlled. To make yourself obey what you approved was freedom. They were saved from looking at their lives as their own private affair. Each one felt responsible for the welfare of Athens, not because it was forced on him from the outside, but because the city was his pride and his safety. The essential belief of the first free government in the world was liberty for all men who could control themselves and would take responsibility for the state.
But discovering freedom is not like discovering computers. It cannot be discovered once for all. If people do not prize it, and work for it, it will go. Constant watch is its price. Athens changed. It was a change that took place without being noticed though it was of the extreme importance a spiritual change which affected the whole state. It had been the Athenians pride and joy to give to their city. That they could get material benefits from her never entered their minds. there had to be a complete change of attitude before they could took at the city as an employer who paid her citizens for doing her work. Now instead of men giving to the state, the state was to give to them. What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them; and with this as the primary object, ideas of freedom and self-reliance and responsibility were neglected to the point of disappearing: Athens was more and more looked on as a cooperative business possessed of great wealth in which all citizens had a right to share.
Athens reached the point when the freedom she really wanted was freedom from responsibility. There could be only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of self-dependence and responsibility for the common good, they would cease to be free. Responsibility is the price everyman must pay for freedom. It is to be had on no other terms. Athens, the Athens of Ancient Greece, refused responsibility; she reached the end of freedom and was never to have it again.
But "the excellent becomes the permanent," Aristotle said. Athens lost freedom forever, but freedom was not lost forever for the world. A great American, James Madison, referred to the capacity of mankind for self-government. No doubt he had not an idea that he was speaking Greek. Athens was not in the farthest background of his mind, but once man has a great and good idea, it is never completely lost. The Digital Age cannot destroy it. Somehow in this or that man s thought such an idea lives though unconsidered by the world of action. One can never be sure that it is not on the point of breaking out into action, only sure that it will do so sometimes
1. What does the underlined word "tyrannies" in Para2 refer to?| A．Countries where their people need help. |
| B．Powerful states with higher civilization. |
| C．Splendid empires where people enjoy freedom. |
| D．Government ruled with absolute power. |
| A．Athens would continue to be. |
| B．Athens would cease to have freedom. |
| C．Freedom would come from responsibility. |
| D．Freedom would stop Athens from self-dependence. |
| A．He is hopeful about freedom. |
| B．He is cautious about self-government. |
| C．He is doubtful about Greek civilization. |
| D．He is critical of Greece's loss of freedom. |
| A．Freedom can be more popular in the digital age. |
| B．Freedom may come to an end in the digital age. |
| C．Freedom should have priority over responsibility. |
| D．Freedom should be guaranteed by responsibility. |
7 . The kimono, a Japanese garment (衣服), became popular during the Edo period, which lasted from 1603 to 1868. High-class samurai, who had traditionally made a name for themselves through battles, turned instead to bright, beautiful clothing to show their social position.
The growing merchant class, who were of lower position, began to develop new kimono styles during the Edo period. These merchants showed off their growing wealth by wearing kimonos of unique patterns and materials. The upper classes responded with laws stopping them from wearing certain colours and using materials such as silk. In response, the merchants used details to add beauty to their kimonos.
Kimonos decreased in popularity during the Meiji period (1868-1912) as the Japanese accepted Western clothing. Men were encouraged to wear Western styles during daily life and at official functions. During this time, the image of graceful women in kimonos came to represent a connection to traditional Japanese culture and values.
Today, the kimono is experiencing a revival. Japanese women of all ages are wearing these garments again. Here are some traditional rules for wearing a kimono:
●Kimonos are always worn with the left side of the garment covering the right side in front. It is considered bad luck to cover the left side of the garment with the right.
●Kimonos with wide sleeves that hang down below the knees are only worn by young, single women. These kimonos have bright, colourful patterns.
●A kimono is held in place by a wide, cloth belt, called an obi. Part of the obi is tied to make a bow. The obi must be worm so that the bow is centred on the woman's back.
●On formal occasions, only white socks should be worn with a kimono. Colourful socks are best for casual get-togethers.
1. What does the writer imply about kimonos during the Meiji period?| A．They fell out of favor among Japanese males. |
| B．They controlled the Japanese clothing market. |
| C．They combined much bolder Japanese designs. |
| D．They were produced using new Japanese methods. |
| A．Wearing the garment without an obi. |
| B．Putting the right side of the garment on the left. |
| C．Old ladies wearing a colourful pattern of the garment. |
| D．Wearing white socks with the garment for a wedding. |
| A．To explain the skills needed to make kimonos. |
| B．To describe the stuff used to decorate kimonos. |
| C．To trace the origin and development of kimonos. |
| D．To analyze the impact of kimonos on global fashion. |
8 . In the 1960s, African American mothers noticed something wrong in their children’s seemingly innocent class photos. Every year, youngsters tidied up in their Sunday best for their school picture, yet these treasured images didn’t
In 2015, two London-based photographers, Adam Broomberg and Oliver Chanarin, wanted to find out why the film could not capture the
All that changed,
Kodak employees worked hard to fix the film, making new film formulations and testing them by taking photos. While the complaints from Black mothers could not change Kodak, those from these companies could. By the late 1970s, new - and more
Technologies, such as photographic films, sometimes capture the beliefs and values of the times. This bias built into technology has
What the makers of film and cameras and other technologies have experienced is a tacit (心照不宣的) subscription to a belief of a standard.
| A．treat | B．capture | C．reflect | D．divide |
| A．characters | B．expressions | C．features | D．colors |
| A．fashion | B．print | C．range | D．sight |
| A．recommended | B．witnessed | C．maintained | D．urged |
| A．likeness | B．frankness | C．carelessness | D．darkness |
| A．dark | B．yellow | C．white | D．black |
| A．coincidence | B．reason | C．consequence | D．result |
| A．therefore | B．however | C．furthermore | D．meanwhile |
| A．guarded | B．insured | C．went | D．protested |
| A．inclusive | B．persuasive | C．decisive | D．offensive |
| A．echoes | B．conclusions | C．objections | D．intentions |
| A．quickly | B．equally | C．easily | D．similarly |
| A．As a result | B．In other words | C．For example | D．On the contrary |
| A．inconsistently | B．unexpectedly | C．inevitably | D．uncritically |
| A．cameras’ | B．technologies’ | C．films’ | D．humans’ |
9 . Canada is a bilingual country with "co-official" languages. English and French enjoy equal status as the official languages of the country. This means that the public has the right to communicate with and receive services from federal(联邦的)government institutions in either English or French. Federal government employees have the right to work in the official language of their choice in bilingual regions.
Like the United States, Canada started as a colony. Beginning in the 1500s, it was part of New France but later became a British colony after the Seven Years' War. As a result, the Canadian government officially recognized the languages of both colonizers: France and England. The Constitution(宪法)Act of 1867 legally accepts the use of both languages in federal courts. Years later, Canada strengthened its commitment to bilingualism when it passed the Official Languages Act of 1969, which restated the constitutional origins of its co-official languages and set out the protections afforded by its dual-language status.
Recognition of both English and French protects the rights of all Canadians. Among other benefits, the 1969 Act recognized that Canadian citizens should be able to access federal laws and government documents, whether their native language was French or English. The general law also requires that consumer products feature bilingual packaging throughout the country.
The Canadian federal government is committed to advancing the equality of status and use of the English and French languages, within Canadian society. However, the reality is that some Canadians speak English, and of course, some Canadians speak the other language entirely.
Although the federal government theoretically guarantees bilingual services in all areas, there are many regions of Canada where English is the clear majority language, so the local government does not always seek services in French in those regions. Canadians use the phrase "where numbers warrant" to determine whether a local population's language usage requires bilingual services from the federal government.
While many Canadians are bilingual, they are not only speaking English or French. Statistics Canada finds that more than 200 languages that were not English or French, were reported as a language spoken by its people. About two-thirds of the respondents who spoke one of these languages also spoke either English or French.
1. The acceptance of two official languages in Canada is due to______________.| A．the language-using tradition caused by Canada's colonial history |
| B．the convenience for business dealings by using two languages in the country |
| C．the welcome attitude toward immigrates from all over the world. |
| D．the mastery of two languages of Canadians because of school education |
| A．the legal order from the federal government |
| B．the popularity of the language in the world |
| C．the number of schools teaching the language |
| D．the number of local people using the language |
| A．English has gained superior legal position to French because of bigger number of users in Canada. |
| B．The legal court usage of French and English was established in Canada in 1969. |
| C．Both French and English should be used on products in Canada according to federal law. |
| D．Canadian people speak either French or English in social communication. |
| A．The advantages of using multiple languages in Canada. |
| B．The history and current situation of two languages used in Canada. |
| C．The disadvantaged status of the French language used in Canada. |
| D．Canadians' advancement in balancing two languages in business world. |
LAS VEGAS - A gunman in a high-rise hotel overlooking the Las Vegas Strip opened fire on a country music festival late Sunday, killing at least 59 people and injuring hundreds of others in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history.
The gunman,
The massacre marked the nation’s
Lombardo said investigators
Paddock, 64,
