1 . Deep within the Yukon, one of the most densely wooded areas of Canada, sits a patch of land that is unlike any other forest on the planet. Instead of a canopy of treetops spreading across the horizon, tens of thousands of signposts perch haphazardly one on top of the other. They are all part of the Signpost Forest, the largest collection of signs from places around the world. At last count, the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake, located about 10 miles north of the U.S.-Canadian border, contains 91,000 signs from spots near and far.
The tradition began during the Alaska Highway Project in 1942, when U.S. soldier Carl K. Lindley spent time in Watson Lake recovering from an injury. A commanding officer asked him to repair and erect the directional signposts, and while completing the job, the homesick soldier added a sign that indicated the direction and mileage to his hometown: “Danville, Illinois, 2,835 miles.” Others followed suit, and the trend caught on. Each year, an average of 1,000 new signs are being added to the collection. Lindley’s original sign has since been lost to time. Fifty years later, in 1992, Lindley and his wife Elinor made the pilgrimage back to Watson Lake to place a replica, which is still there.
The Signpost Forest takes up a couple of acres, with huge panels snaking through the trees. There are street signs, welcome signs, signatures on dinner plates, and license plates from around the world. There are also a lot of familial signs; for example, a grandfather will put up a sign and then years later family will come back and try to find it. A lot of these are personal signs to literally say that they are here. Though the visitor center has wood and paints on hand to help create a sign, many people opt to bring their own signs, though illegally, by snatching a metal sign from their hometown and nailing it to one of the wood posts. The forest has grown so vast that the visitor center no longer tries to keep a detailed list of the signs.
1. What does “The tradition” in the second paragraph refer to?| A．Counting the number of signs in the Signpost Forest. |
| B．Replacing the natural forest with signs of different kinds. |
| C．Putting directional signposts on the highways of the Yukon. |
| D．Bringing signs to the Signpost Forest from around the world. |
| A．It remained in the Forest until 1992. |
| B．It was erected by an American soldier. |
| C．It was first put on the Alaska Highway. |
| D．It was brought from Lindley’s hometown. |
| A．List. | B．Trunk. | C．Copy. | D．Border. |
| A．The origins and sizes of the signs in the Signpost Forest. |
| B．The quantity and variety of the signs in the Signpost Forest. |
| C．The difficulty of categorizing the signs in the Signpost Forest. |
| D．The practice of nailing illegal signs to the posts in the Signpost Forest. |
Elon Musk Tweets an Ancient Chinese Poem. Here’s What It Means.
The world’s richest man caught up in Twitter spats (小争吵), now wants some peace. In a Monday tweet, Elon Musk wrote “humankined,” followed by the Chinese poem The Quatrain of Seven Steps, a widely known classical poem used
Beans a simmer on a beanstalk flame
From inside the pot expressed their ire:
“Alive we sprouted on a single root — What’s your rush to cook us on the fire?”
The verses were attributed to Cao Zhi, the son of famous warlord Cao Cao,
Cao Zhi then made the bean-themed verses
In China, the poem is taught to primary school students and is often quoted by people to describe unnecessary rivalries. Interest users, including people in China, are confused over what Musk
3 . Brownrigg is a London tour guide and leads walks through the capital all summer long, whatever the weather. His dozen or so routes range in topics from Harry Potter to the London Underground, but all have something in common. “I often end up talking about the weather,” he says. “It’s a national obsession (痴迷). I realised how much it has shaped London’s existence and history.”
Brownrigg’s Discovering Britain walk takes in several of the city’s famous landmarks, from the Tower of London lo the Shard, each stop exploring some of London’s extraordinary weather events.
We begin at the Monument Christopher Wren’s elegy to the Great Fire of London. With its pale stone column topped by a golden orb. the Monument was designed to look like a giant candle. It stands 202ft high, exactly 202ft away from where the lire began in Pudding Lane. Despite its size, the structure is dwarfed by (相形见绌) today’s surrounding tower blocks. Similarly, the causes behind the fire are sometimes overlooked. The Great Fire was a significant event in the City of London’s history, one that was shaped by the capitals geography. The spark was the weather.
As we enjoy some autumn sun beside the Monument, Brownrigg explains: “The summer of 1666 was unusually warm. At that time London was crammed (塞满) with wooden buildings, many only a few feet apart. A long, hot summer left them bone dry. Add stores of flammable materials including gunpowder left over from the Civil War and the city was a giant tinderbox.” It caught a light on 2 September when a bakery oven wasn’t cleaned properly. The inferno (特大火) lasted three days thanks to a strong breeze. Besides fanning the flames, the wind caused more mess by changing direction.
1. What does “it” refer to in paragraph 1?| A．Introducing the celebrities in London. | B．Talking about the weather. |
| C．Explaining the public transport. | D．Exploring the culture of Britain. |
| A．Admiring the special architecture. |
| B．Warning tourists of the public safety. |
| C．Paying a visit to the famous museums. |
| D．Probing some historical matters with weather. |
| A．By making a comparison. | B．By analyzing the important figures. |
| C．By offering some examples. | D．By describing the features of the buildings. |
| A．Showing the materials of the buildings. | B．Expressing the cause of the Great Fire. |
| C．Predicting the change of the weather. | D．Describing the surroundings of the bakery. |
In advance of the Allied landings at Normandy, the British planned the aerial bombing of the Amiens Prison in northwest France.
On February 18, 1944, 18 of the legendary Mosquito fighter-bombers (蚊式轰炸机) carried out the plan
At 12:01 pm, the bombers attacked the prison wall to allow the prisoners
5 . TRADITIONAL belief has always had it that a not-so-clear-thinking---Vincent Van Gogh cut off his own ear after a fight with the French artist Paul Gauguin in 1888.Van Gogh is said to have handed the ear to a woman named Rachel. Then, doing what any person who had just lost an ear might do, he went home to take a nap.
But a new book titled In Van Gogh’s Ear argues that it was Gauguin who cut off the Dutch painter’s ear. Authors Hans Kaufmann and Rita Wildegans explained inconsistencies(矛盾) in Gauguin’s description of the event and his ability as an expert swordsman(剑客). “Vincent might have attacked him; Gauguin wanted to defend himself and to get rid of this “madman’,……
They believe that Gauguin and Van Gogh agreed to hide the incident. But that doesn’t mean Gogh never dropped a hint about the “real” story. He once told his brother Theo in a letter, “Luckily, Gauguin is not yet armed with machine guns and other dangerous war weapons”.
1. It is widely accepted by people that cut off his ear.| A．Hans Kaufmann | B．Gauguin | C．Rachel | D．Van Gogh himself |
| A．Van Gogh is a Dutch painter |
| B．Gauguin didn’t use a machine gun to cut off Van Gogh’s ear |
| C．Theo is van Gogh’s brother |
| D．Van Gogh had slept for a long time after his ear was cut off |
| A．Van Gogh cut off his own ears. |
| B．It’s not possible Gauguin who cut off Van Gogh’s ear |
| C．Kaufmann and Wildegans wrote the book called In Van Gogh’s Ear |
| D．Van Gogh never dropped a hint about his ear |
| A．Gauguin wanted to kill him |
| B．He was lucky not to be killed by Gauguin |
| C．He hated Gauguin |
| D．He wanted to tell his brother it was who cut off his ear |
| A．Who cut off Van Gogh’s ear? |
| B．The introduction of Van Gogh |
| C．A new book titled In Van Gogh’s Ear |
| D．A Swordsman |
6 . In Europe many people died during the Second World War. As a result, at the end of the war there were many orphans (孤儿) there. A man called Hermann Gmeiner wanted to help these children. His idea was simple. He wanted orphans to have a home, and he wanted them to have the care and kindness of parents. Gmeiner asked people to give him some money. With this money he built the first SOS Children's Village at Imst, in Austria. It opened in1949. This is how the SOS stand for “Save Our Souls.” This means, “Please help us!” An SOS Children’ village gives help to orphans. Hermann Gmeiner’s idea for helping orphans soon spread all over the world. By 1983 there were 170 SOS Children's Villages in the world. People in many countries give money to help the villages.
Today the children from the first village have grown up. Now some of them work in other SOS Children’s Villages. In SOS Villages orphans live in family groups. There are several houses in each village. The biggest village has 40 or 50 houses! Between seven and ten children live in a house. A woman lives with each group of children and looks after them. She gives the children a lot of love and kindness. She cooks meals for them and makes comfortable, happy home for them.
Of course, the children don’t spend all their time in the village. They go to school; they go out with their friends. But the village gives them a home—sometimes for the first time in their lives.
1. The SOS Children’s Villages are built for________ first.| A．the children who are poor | B．the orphans in Europe |
| C．the kind women | D．people who died in the war. |
| A．governments | B．special organization |
| C．people in different countries | D．the orphans themselves |
| A．She lives with the children and looks after them. |
| B．She gives the children a lot of love and kindness. |
| C．She cooks meals for children. |
| D．She teaches the children how to use the computer. |
In the closing ceremony of the 2018 0lympic Winter Games. China put on "See You in Beijing in 2022", directed by Zhang Yimou. The show centered on the talents of a team of 24 roller-skating
In addition to traditional symbols including the Great Wall and lucky animals
