1 . Sometimes it’s hard to let go. For many British people, that can apply to institutions and objects that represent their country’s past-age-old castles, splendid homes… and red phone boxes.
Beaten first by the march of technology and lately by the terrible weather in junkyards (废品场), the phone boxes representative of an age are now making something of a comeback. Adapted in imaginative ways, many have reappeared on city streets and village greens housing tiny cafes, cellphone repair shops or even defibrillator machines (除颤器).
The original iron boxes with the round roofs first appeared in 1926. They were designed by Giles Gilbert Scott, the architect of the Battersea Power Station in London. After becoming an important part of many British streets, the phone boxes began disappearing in the 1980s, with the rise of the mobile phone sending most of them away to the junkyards.
About that time, Tony Inglis’ engineering and transport company got the job to remove phone boxes from the streets and sell them out. But Inglis ended up buying hundreds of them himself, with the idea of repairing and selling them. He said that he had heard the calls to preserve the boxes and had seen how some of them were listed as historic buildings.
As Inglis and, later other businessmen, got to work, repurposed phone boxes began reappearing in cities and villages as people found new uses for them. Today, they are once again a familiar sight, playing roles that are often just as important for the community as their original purpose.
In rural areas, where ambulances can take a relatively long time to arrive, the phone boxes have taken on a lifesaving role. Local organizations can adopt them for l pound, and install defibrillators to help in emergencies.
Others also looked at the phone boxes and saw business opportunities. LoveFone, a company that advocates repairing cellphones rather than abandoning them, opened a mini workshop in a London phone box in 2016.
The tiny shops made economic sense, according to Robert Kerr, a founder of LoveFone. He said that one of the boxes generated around $13,500 in revenue a month and cost only about $400 to rent.
Inglis said phone boxes called to mind an age when things were built to last. “I like what they are to people, and I enjoy bringing things back,” he said.
1. The phone boxes are making a comeback ______.A.to form a beautiful sight of the city |
B.to improve telecommunications services |
C.to remind people of a historical period |
D.to meet the requirement of green economy |
A.They were not well-designed. | B.They provided bad services. |
C.They had too short a history. | D.They lost to new technologies. |
A.their new appearance and lower prices | B.the push of the local organizations |
C.their changed roles and functions | D.the big funding of the businessmen |
The Confucian Analects or The Analects (论语) is a collection of the sayings and teachings of Confucius and his disciples (门徒). It
The present-day analects is based on the Lu version compiled during the Han Dynasty and contains
Apart from ren, Confucius put forward another concept, which is yi or righteousness. Yi is the codes of conduct under the
3 . New research into a little-known text written in ancient Greek shows that “stressed poetry”, the ancestor of all modern poetry and song, was already in use in the 2nd century CE, 300 years earlier than previously thought. It has been found sculpted on twenty precious stones and as a graffito (雕画) in Cartagena, Spain.
In its shortest version, the nameless four-line poem reads “They say what they like; let them say it; I dont care.” Other versions extend with “Go on, love me; it does you good.” The poem, unparalleled (绝无仅有的) so far in the classical world, consists of lines of 4 syllables (音节), with a strong accent on the first and a weaker on the third. This allows it to come into the rhythms of numerous pop and rock songs. So it became popular across the eastern Roman Empire and survives.
By comparing all of the known examples for the first time, Cambridges Professor Tim Whitmarsh noticed that the poem used a different form of rhythm to that usually found in ancient Greek poetry. As well as showing signs of the long and short syllables characteristic of traditional “quantitative” poem, this text employed stressed and unstressed syllables. The new study, published in The Cambridge Classical Journal, also suggests that this poem could represent a “missing link” between the lost world of ancient Mediterranean oral poetry and song, and the more modern forms that we know today. A lot of popular poetry in ancient Greek takes a similar form to traditional high poetics. This poem, on the other hand, points to a distinct and rich culture, primarily oral.
1. Where was the “stressed poetry” discovered?A.In Greece. | B.In Spain. |
C.In Britain. | D.In Mediterranean. |
A.A syllable. | B.A strong accent. |
C.The four-line poem. | D.The content of the poem. |
A.A missing link between poems was found finally. |
B.A lot of popular poetry in ancient Greek was then popular in the world. |
C.The stressed and unstressed syllables distinguished the poem from others. |
D.The ancient Mediterranean oral poetry and song was older than the poem. |
A.Ancient Greek “pop culture” discovery rewrites the history of poetry and song |
B.The unparalleled poem made ancient Greek culture more attractive |
C.Ancient Greek poetry lay the foundation of modern culture |
D.Four syllables are still popular in modern poetry and song |
The Vikings, whose ancestors came from Scandinavia, were the first Europeans
Later a man, Biarni set sail from Iceland in search
In the year 1002, Leif, Eric the Red’s son, followed Biarni’s directions and sailed to
5 . Using Google's unique digital(数字的)technology, the stories of some English Heritage(遗产)sites around the country-from Tintagel Castle in Cornwall to Chesters Roman Fort on Hadrian's Wall-are brought to life and shared by way of the Google Arts & Culture platform.
Stonehenge Skyscape | English Heritage's Stonehenge Skyscape enables people around the world to experience the skies above the stone circle, to learn about movements of the sun, moon and planets. Experience a live and special sunrise over Stonehenge, see the journey of the stars and the moon from within the stone circle and learn more about the design of Stonehenge and how its builders may have understood their place in the universe. |
Osborne, Isle of Wight | Take a 360 video tour of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's palatial(豪华的)holiday home on the Isle of Wight in the company of English Heritage director Michael Hunter, including the Italian terraces(露台)with views over the Solent, which reminded Prince Albert of the Bay of Naples, and the Indian-inspired Durbar Room, designed to show Queen Victoria's position as Empress of India. |
Audley End House and Gardens, Essex | Explore the story of one of the greatest houses of early 17th-century England, deep in the heart of the Essex countryside, and fly over the great formal gardens designed by Capability Brown. |
Tintagel Castle, Cornwall | Explore this medieval(中世纪的)castle set high on Cornwall's north coast. Linked with the legend of King Arthur, for centuries this impressive castle and coastline has inspired the imaginations of writers, artists and even the brother of a king. Discover the Early Medieval history of a distant outpost(哨站)trading objects from Spain, North Africa and Turkey. |
1. Which heritage can you choose if you are interested in a unique sunrise?
A.Stonehenge Skyscape. | B.Osborne, Isle of Wight. |
C.Audley End House and Gardens, Essex. | D.Tintagel Castle, Cornwall. |
A.Both were built for their kings. |
B.Both were built in the same age. |
C.Both are related to previous rulers. |
D.Both are palatial holiday homes for the rulers. |
A.History. | B.Travel. |
C.Geography. | D.Culture. |
6 . It is sometimes thought that the longing for material goods, the need to buy things, is a relatively modern invention.
Humans are born to trade.
Ancient local coastal people in northern Australia traded fish hooks, along a chain of trading partners, with people living 400 miles inland, who cut and polished local stone to make axes (斧子).
Trade in the necessities of life, such as food and simple tools, is not really surprising, considering the link between these basic items and survival. What is surprising, though, is that our taste for unnecessary expensive objects also goes back a long way.
In South Africa, 100,000-year-old decorative dyes (染料) have been found in an area where none were produced.
Archaeologists argue that trade prepared the way for the complex societies in which we live today.
A.And we don’t need shops or money to do it. |
B.These are powerful evidence for cash purchase. |
C.In fact, its roots go back to the beginning of humanity. |
D.However, first trade began from the exchange of objects. |
E.Modern-day shoppers may not be impressed by ancient glass pieces. |
F.It is thought that these goods were bought at least 30 kilometres away. |
G.Every individual along the chain made a profit, even if he produced neither himself. |
The beans cry in the pot
We grow from the same root (根)
Why should we boil each other with such impatience?
The poem is thought to be written by Cao Zhi, one of Cao Cao’s sons, Cao, who lived between 192 and 232 during the Three Kingdoms period.
It is said that after Cao Cao’s death, his oldest son Cao Pi became the emperor. Cao Pi was jealous (嫉妒的) of his younger brother Cao Zhi’s talent, so he wanted to find an excuse to kill him. One day, Cao Pi ordered Cao Zhi to make a poem about their relationship within seven steps, and was determined (决定) to have the younger brother killed if he failed. Cao Zhi then made the poem in front of him, which showed Cao Pi’s cruel idea to kill his own brother. Cao Pi, feeling ashamed, let Cao Zhi go in the end.
In China, the poem is taught to primary school students and is often used by people to describe unnecessary competitions or fighting between people, businesses, or organizations who are in the same area or want the same things.
The poem was posted on Tweeter by the CEO of Tesla and Space X Elon Musk, and it was given a title Humankind on purpose by Musk. The post drew tons of attention on both Western and Chinese social media, and internet users have been guessing what it was used for. People thought it could be an answer to the director of UN food organization, who mentioned that world hunger could be stopped if Elon Musk could give away 2% of his wealth.
1. The poem is said to be written by ________.A.Cao Cao | B.Cao Zhi | C.Cao Pi | D.Elon Musk |
A.Cao Zhi was one of his brothers |
B.Cao Pi was jealous of Cao Zhi’s talent |
C.Cao Zhi refused to follow Cao Pi’s orders |
D.Cao Pi wanted to become the only son of Cao Cao |
A.his brother was cruel to him | B.he was not afraid of his brother |
C.the beans were close to its stalks | D.the beanstalk should die for its beans |
A.Elon Musk posted the poem on Tweeter for fun. |
B.Only Western internet users noticed the poem. |
C.The purpose of the poem became a hot topic. |
D.Elon Musk is mean and doesn’t care about others. |
People have been exploring the secrets of ancient Maya civilisation for
People are searching for the reason why Maya civilisation
The rise and fall of this civilisation not only give us the mysteries of the Maya but also leave us thinking about our own past, present and future.
9 . The following properties which the World Heritage Committee (世界遗产委员会)has decided to include on the List of World Heritage are under threat.
Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley (Afghanistan)
The cultural landscape and archaeological remains of the Bamiyan Valley stand for the artistic and religious developments which from the 1st to the 13th centuries characterized ancient Bakhtria. The area contains a number of Buddhist monastic ensembles, as well as strong buildings from the Islamic period.
Historic Centre of Vienna (Austria)
Vienna developed from early Celtic and Roman settlements into a Medieval and Baroque city, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It played an important role as a leading European music centre, from the great age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic centre of Vienna is rich in architectural buildings, including Baroque castles and gardens, as well as the late-19th-century Ringstrasse lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.
Okapi Wildlife Reserve (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
The Okapi Wildlife Reserve occupies about one-fifth of the Ituri forest in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo river basin, of which the reserve and forest are a part, is one of the largest drainage systems in Africa. The reserve contains threatened species of primates and birds surviving in the wild. It also has some amazing scenery, including waterfalls on the Ituri and Epulu rivers. The reserve is inhabited by traditional nomadic pygmy Mbuti and Efe hunters.
1. Which of the following heritage sites is located in Asia?A.Okapi Wildlife Reserve. |
B.Historic Centre of Vienna. |
C.The Austro-Hungarian Empire. |
D.Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley. |
A.Music composers. |
B.Birds researchers. |
C.Modem building lovers. |
D.Natural Scenery Photographer. |
A.They are all in danger. |
B.They are closed to the public. |
C.They feature lots of ancient buildings. |
D.They are to be removed from the World Heritage List. |
10 . Although we lack accurate statistics about child mortality in the pre-industrial period, we do have evidence that in the 1660s, the mortality rate for children who died within 14 days of birth was as much as 30 percent. Nearly all families
The 18th century witnessed the
The lives of children
A.suffered | B.deserved | C.endured | D.defeated |
A.judgement | B.reaction | C.commitment | D.expression |
A.interpretation | B.transformation | C.journey | D.migration |
A.previously | B.naturally | C.dramatically | D.accidentally |
A.allowed | B.introduced | C.organised | D.forced |
A.committed | B.addicted | C.subjected | D.entitled |
A.anticipated | B.caused | C.indicated | D.underwent |
A.Nevertheless | B.Moreover | C.Instead | D.Therefore |
A.compared with | B.based on | C.coupled with | D.regardless of |
A.agriculture | B.machines | C.weather | D.livestock |
A.industrialism | B.trend | C.popularity | D.development |
A.experienced | B.gifted | C.imaginative | D.influential |
A.remarkable | B.authoritative | C.comprehensive | D.alarming |
A.enriches | B.rebuilds | C.prolongs | D.determines |
A.recognition | B.experience | C.admission | D.benefits |