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What’s going on under Liverpool?
A Rainy Day in Liverpool
Dark clouds appear over the River Mersey and a cold wind is blowing. A few rain drops are beginning to fall. We’re in the famous city of Liverpool and we’re going to spend this rainy day in the Williamson Tunnels.
An Interesting Life Story
Joseph Williamson was born into a poor family in 1769，but left home and went to work for a tobacco company aged 11. He began at the bottom, and finally became head of the business.
An Unsolved Mystery
Nobody knows why Williamson dug tunnels under most of Liverpool, but many think it was to create jobs. Perhaps half of Liverpool’s population worked for him. The industry of war had made enormous amounts of money, but now Liverpool was in a terrible financial situation.
The King of Edge Hill
I went on a guided tour starting close to where his empire began in Edge Hill. In the tunnels, the steps leading from rooms below ground to those buildings, which no longer exist, seem particularly ghostly.
Incredible Engineering
We go into the Double Tunnel. It’s just been discovered that it’s actually a triple tunnel - but nobody knows why the three tunnels were built on top of each other.
We finish the tour and decide we’ll have a coffee in the Williamson Tunnels Cafe Bar. There, I notice lots of flyers for bands and theater groups that are coming to play there.
Why Liverpool?
Apart from the obvious attractions like the football clubs, or anything to do with the Beatles, Liverpool has a lot to offer. Princes Park and Croxteth Park were royal hunting grounds and the trees are 200 years old. Renshaw Street displays are an unusual mix of architecture styles. The nightlife is exciting. If you want to experience a part of the British Isles with a character entirely different from London, you should definitely come to Liverpool.
1.Which of the following is TRUE about Joseph Williamson?
A. He was born in the early 1700s.
B. He left home when he turned 18.
C. He worked for a tobacco company when he was young.
D. He started his business by himself but ended up broke.
2.Where did Williamson start his business?
A. Princes Park. B. Edge Hill.
C. Croxteth Park. D. Renshaw Street.
3.What can you do in Liverpool?
a. Join football clubs.
b. Enjoy Beatles music.
c. Visit famous tourist spots.
d. Enjoy the beautiful beach.
A. abd B. bcd
C. acd D. abc
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In January, 2016, Harry Styles made a bold decision. He left the popular boy band One Direction and went solo (单飞). Now he is making his own voice heard. The 23-year-old British singer released his first solo single called Sign of the Times. His self-titled album (个人同名专辑) is coming out on May 12.
Going solo is a journey for him to find his identity (身份). Though at the time, he was uncertain about his future, he kept a word in his mind - “honesty”. “I didn’t want to write ‘stories’,” he told Rolling Stone. “I wanted to write my stories, things that happened to me. The number-one thing was I wanted to be honest. I hadn’t done that before.”
He is indeed full of stories since beginning his solo career. Last fall, he spent two months recording on a remote island in Jamaica (牙买加).Along with some musicians, he filled a two-floor house with instruments. They hung out at the bar that looked like a tree house. Many mornings began with a swim in the river down the hill. They watched many romantic comedies. Styles always held a black notebook and looked like a college student who was studying, Rolling Stone reported.
His coming album is about rock music. In fact, he grew up with it. His father Desmond was a rock music fan. When Styles was very young, he danced to The Dark Side of the Moon, a classic song by British rock band Pink Floyd. “I couldn’t really get it. But I just remember (thinking that) this is really cool.”
Harry said, “At the very beginning, all I wanted was to be the granddad with the best stories.” Surely, now he is on the right track (轨道).
1.Why did Styles go solo?
A. He wanted to travel with his friends.
B. He was certain that he would succeed.
C. He wanted to be independent from the hand.
D. He wanted to do the things that he hadn’t done before.
2.From the article, which of the followings is true?
A. Styles，next album is about his father.
B. Styles wanted to be a man with “stories”.
C. He left the band because of its dishonesty.
D. Styles couldn’t find his identity after going solo.
3.What Styles did on the island in Jamaica didn’t include .
A. making a record B. hanging out at the bar
C. swimming in the river D. studying like a college student.
4.What is the article mainly about?
A. Styles’ “stories” about his solo career. B. Styles’ favoriate sports
C. The band One Direction D. Styles’ achievements in music.
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French writer Frantz Fanon once said: “To speak a language is to take on a world, a culture.” Since the world changes every day, so does our language.
More than 300 new words and phrases have recently made it into the online Oxford Dictionary, and in one way or another they are all reflections of today’s changing world.
After a year that was politically unstable, it’s not hard to understand the fact that people’s political views are one of the main drives of our expanding vocabulary. One example is “clicktivism”, a compound of “click” and “activism”. It refers to “armchair activists” — people who support a political or social cause, but only show their support from behind a computer or smartphone. And “otherize” is a verb for “other” that means to alienate (使疏远) people who are different from ourselves — whether that be different skin color, religious belief or sexuality.
Lifestyle is also changing our language. For example, “fitspiration” — a compound of fit and inspiration — refers to a person or thing that encourages one to exercise and stay fit and healthy.
The phrase “climate refugee” — someone who is forced to leave their home due to climate change — reflects people’s concern for the environment.
According to Stevenson, social media was the main source for the new expressions. “People feel much freer to coin their own words these days,” he said.
But still, not all newly-invented words get the chance to make their way into a mainstream (主流的) dictionary. If you want to create your own hit words, Angus Stevenson, Oxford Dictionaries head of content development, suggests that you should not only make sure that they are expressive (有表现力的) and meaningful, but also have an attractive sound so that people will enjoy saying them out loud.
1.What is the article mainly about?
A. Some new word that got included into the online Oxford Dictionary.
B. The application of new words and phrases.
C. How a language mirrors the changing world.
D. The impact of social media on our language.
2.The underlined word “coin” in the second-to-last paragraph probably means ________.
A. use B. record
C. change D. create
3.How is the article mainly developed?
A. By giving examples. B. By making comparisons.
C. By following a timeline. D. By presenting research findings.
4.According to Stevenson, to make the words you invent popular, they should ________.
A. be easy to remember B. have unique meanings
C. reflect the changing world D. be meaningful, expressive and catchy
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Being seen in a fancy sports car or enjoying a beach holiday in a five-star hotel were once signs of having ‘‘made it”.
But a new study suggested that having people think of you as constantly busy and overworked is now a far better way to show social status.
According to Harvard University in the US, people are increasingly leaning toward the phenomenon of “humblebragging (谦虚自夸)”. This is when people make a seemingly modest statement that actually draws attention to something they want to brag (吹嘘) about.
Phrases such as “I have no life” and “I desperately need a holiday” are now used to imply social standing, while ordering food and shopping online is the perfect way to prove to neighbors that you are simply too busy and important to go to the supermarket.
“Movies, magazines, and popular TV shows often highlight (强调) the abundance (富足) of money and leisure time among the wealthy,” said Neeru Paharia, an assistant professor at Harvard University.
“In recent years, featuring wealthy people relaxing by the pool or on a yacht (游艇), playing tennis or skiing and hunting are being replaced with advertisements featuring busy individuals who work long hours and have very limited leisure time,” he said. “Displaying (how busy you are at work) and a lack of leisure time operates as a visible signal of status in the eyes of others.”
The researchers pointed out that the Wall Street Journal’s 2016 advert campaign featured celebrities (名人) complaining about their busy lives, with the slogan (标语). “People who don’t have time, make time to read the Wall Street Journal.”
The report, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research, also found that brands that marketed themselves as timesaving were becoming increasingly high-status, because of the people who used them.
According to the authors, this trend of humblebragging is due to people’s shit of focus-they now value “the preciousness und scarcity (稀缺) of individuals" more than “the preciousness and scarcity of goods”.
“Busy individuals possess desirable characteristics, leading them to be viewed as scarce and in demand,” the authors concluded.
1.The main idea of this article is about ?
A. the trend of “humblebragging”.
B. characteristics of people who lead a busy life.
C. why people today are becoming increasingly busy.
D. why some people like to brag about their social status.
2.People today prefer to to display their social status
A. share their passion for tennis or skiing
B. show how fast-paced their work life is
C. tell people about the wonderful holidays they take
D. show off their abundance of money and leisure time
3.The Wall Street Journal’s 2016 advert campaign implies that .
A. busy people always have a better life than others
B. it’s important to read newspapers however busy you are
C. busy individuals should learn to manage their time better
D. a lack of time is a typical characteristic of people of high social status
4.From the article we can conclude that America people today .
A. all brag about themselives.
B. value individuals, the preciousness and scarcity
C. order food and shop online to show they are rich
D. work long hours and don’t have enough leisure time.
asure D. choose
asure D. choose