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The kindly“Chinese Fortune Grandpa”wearing Han Chineseclothing and holding a fortune bag debuted (亮相) at the Imperial Ancestral Shrine in Beijing on the day after Christmas．The final imageof the Chinese gift-giver was selected through a global design competitionagainst“Santa Claus”，according to a report by Guangming Daily．
Many Chinese cities have been filled with Christmas neon lights，Christmas songs，Christmas trees，and the images of“Santa Claus”in recent days．As a matter of fact，foreign festivals are becoming more popular than certain traditional Chinese festivals among the Chinese people，particularly the youth.“Certain traditional festivals have died out because people have forgotten their spiritual meanings，”said noted writer Feng Jicai．More and more Chinese people are beginning to exchange gifts on Valentine's Day and Christmas．However，many of them know nothing about Chinese New Year pictures or sugarcoated figurines(小糖人)，and have never heard suona music．Certain folk customs on the Dragon Boat Festival，Tomb Sweeping Day，and other traditional festivals have gradually disappeared．Under such circum-stances，even the“Chinese Fortune Grandpa”is unlikely to defeat“Santa Claus”．
However，it is not a bad thing to some extent．It constantly reminds people to restore the“true
face”of traditional festivals．China has listed traditional Tomb Sweeping Day，Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival as legal holidays，which brings more paid leaves to the public，and helps to awake the public awareness of traditional festivals．
In modern society，festival is a carrier of culture and its meaning largelydepends on their understandings and usages by people．Compared with foreign festivals，traditional Chinese festivals are not inferior (次于) in cultural meanings，but lack of fashion sought by modern people．If people do not appreciate the historical culture contained by traditional festivals，and only take pleasure-seeking as the most important，the significance of traditional festivals will fade away and the inheritance (继承) of fine traditional culture will be cut off．
1.The second paragraph implies that______________________.
A．traditional festivals should co-exist with foreign festivals
B．all the Chinese festivals are disappearing in the near future
C．western festivals are constantly impacting on our festivals
D．the Chinese people have the public awareness of traditional festivals
2.We can learn from the passage that______________.
A．an image designed by the Chinese people will be displayed
B．many foreigners know nothing about Chinese festivals
C．the Chinese gift-giver was intended to symbolize traditional culture
D．the Chinese are beginning to exchange gifts on the Mid-Autumn Festival
3.Many Chinese youth dislike traditional festivals because they think______________.
A．traditional festivals are out of fashion now
B．the historical culture is more difficult to understand
C．western festivals contain more cultural meanings
D．the inheritance will cut off their contact with western festivals
4.What would be the best title of the passage?
A．Gone are Chinese Traditional Festivals
B．True Face of Chinese Traditional Culture
C．Foreign Festivals Popular with Chinese
D．Chinese Fortune Grandpa VS．Santa Claus
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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This year the selfie earned its place as the Oxford English Dictionary’s 2013 Word Of The Year．It has taken over our culture-and our smartphones．The rise of the selfie has become universal-between presidents，celebrities(名人)and citizens alike-and the trend is only continuing to grow.
A recent survey conducted by the Pew Internet＆American Life Project found that 54 percent of Internet have posted original photos online．And of those hundreds of millions of photos， many are of selfie photos．
For example，currently there are nearly 62 million posted selfie
photos on Instagram，the social media tool that has significantly contributed to the personal photo’s popularity．That figure，which continues to rise every day, does not even begin to include the selfies shared on Facebook and Twitter.
What makes the selfie so attractive-and why do we feel it a must to take one? According to Dr．Pamela Rutledge，psychologist and director of the Media Psychology Research Center，the desire to take，post and get“likes” on selfies goes back to a biological behavior of all humans．
“ I think it influences our sense of social connection in the same way as it does when you go
to a party and people say‘Oh I love your dress，’” Rutledge told The Huffington Post.“Biological，social recognition is a real need and there is even an area of the brain that contributes to social activity．”
There is a way to adapt to the growing selfie culture．Whether you’re a selfie novice or an advanced poster，there are always things to be mindful of when you’re posting，Rutledge advises.
She offered two main principles to follow when it comes to posting on social media:
1．The Grandmother Rule
“Don't post anything online，whether text or visual，that you don't want grandmother or future
employer to see，” Rutledge said．“Selfies especially．”
2．The Elevator Rule
“You wouldn’t say something in an elevator that you or no one else wants to hear—the whole
world of social media is an elevator，” Rutledge said．“Be aware of the breadth of platform．It's easy to think you’re sharing a photo with a few people，but Instagram is public and people can come across things．”
1.What's the main idea of the first paragraph?
A．The selfie is taking the lead．
B．Many people are fond of smartphones．
C．The selfie will take over everything．
D．The selfie is an important new word．
2.According to the passage，people like“selfie”so much，because they___________.
A．need to be acknowledged in social life
B．want to show off their new dresses
C．desire to share good things
D．mean to amuse the public
3.The underlined word“novice”in Paragraph 6 probably means“___________”.
A．publisher B．greenhand C．novelist D．celebrity
4.When it comes to posting on social media，Rutledge advises people to___________.
A．share photos only on Instagram
B．talk about their photos in an elevator
C．be cautious in posting things online
D．follow rules set by their grandmothers
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Dr．Ferguson energetically pushed the preparations for his departure，and in person directed the construction of his balloon．For a long time past he had been applying himself to the study of the Arab language and the various Mandingoe idioms，and，thanks to his talents in language，he had made rapid progress．
In the meanwhile，his friend，the sportsman，never let him out of
his sight-afraid，no doubt，that the doctor might take his departure，without saying a word to anybody．On this subject，he tried to discourage him with the most persuasive arguments，which，however，did NOT persuade Samuel Ferguson，and wasted his breath，by which the latter seemed to be but slightly moved．In fine，Dick felt that the doctor was slipping through his fingers．
The poor Scot was really to be pitied．He could not look upon the
blue sky without a wild terror: when asleep，he felt dizziness(眩晕)that made his head turn around；and every night he had visions of crashing down from immeasurable heights．
We must add that，during these nightmares，he once or twice fell out of bed. His first care then was to show Ferguson a severe bump(肿块)that he had received on the fall．“And yet，”he
would add，with warmth，“that was at the height of only three feet一not an inch more一and such a bump as this! Only think，then!”
This appeal，full of sad meaning as it was，did not seem to touch the doctor's heart．Not even the shadow of a doubt was ever suggested；and Samuel made an intolerable misuse of the first person plural：“‘Our’balloon，‘our’ car ；‘our’expedition.”
Dick trembled at them，although he was determined not to go ; he did not want to annoy his friend．Let us also disclose the fact that，without knowing exactly why himself，he had sent to Edinburgh for a certain selection of heavy clothing，and his best hunting-tools and fire-arms．
1.Why did Dr．Ferguson start to learn new languages?
A．To keep himself occupied．
B．To get ready for the departure．
C．To show his talent in language．
D．To Know more about balloon construction．
2.We Call infer from the passage that Dick ＿＿＿＿.
A．suffered from a disease during the nights
B．got hurt in a fall from the balloon in the evening
C．decided to take the adventure with the doctor at last
D．equipped himself with arms to frighten his friend
3.Which word best describes Dr．Ferguson’s attitude towards his balloon flight?
A．Excited． B．Optimistic． C．Worried. D．Determined
4.What’s the writing pattern of the passage?
A．News． B．Fiction． C．Journal． D．Biography．
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Recently we told you about a finding that more years of school could help students get higherscores on intelligence tests．That was the finding of a study of teenage males in Norway．Now，other research shows that physical activity may help students do better in their classes .
The research comes as educators in some countries are reducing time for activities like physical education．They are using the time instead for academic subjects like maths and reading．The studies appeared between 2007 and 2013．They included more than 55，000 children，aged 6 to 18．
Amika Singh：“Based on the results of our study，we can conclude that being physically active is beneficial for academic performance. There are，first，Physiological explanations，like more blood flow, and so more oxygen to the brain．Being physically active means there are more hormones(荷尔蒙)produced like endorphins(内啡肽)．And endorphins make your stress level lower and your mood improved, which means you also perform better.”
Also，students involved in organized sports learn rules and how to follow them．This could improve their classroom behavior and help them keep their mind on their work．
The study leaves some questions unanswered，however．Ms．Stash says it is not possible to say whether the amount or kind of activity affected the level of academic improvement．This is because of differences among the studies .
Also．they were mostly observational studies．An observational study is where researchers do not do controlled comparisons．They only describe what they observe．So they might observe a link that students who are more active often have better grades．But that does not necessarily mean being active was the cause of those higher grades．
The researchers said they found only two high - quality studies．They called for more high-
quality studies to confirm their findings．They also pointed out that “outcomes for other parts of the world may be quite different. ”
Still，the general finding was that physically active kids are more likely to do better in school．Ms．Singh says schools should consider that finding before they cut physical education programs．Her paper on “Physical Activity and Performance at School”is published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine．
1.The passage mainly tells us that ＿＿＿＿
A．a research on physical education has been done by the researchers
B．there exists a possibility that physical activity leads to higher grades
C．the amount or kind of activity directly affects academic level
D．the research shows that the children aged 6 to 1 8 don't do sports
2.Which of the following is TRUE?
A．Being mentally active is good for academic subjects．
B．The more hormones you have，the more stressed you will get．
C．They have found many high-quality studies to prove the research．
D．The educators in the research think studies，not exercise，mean much to students．
3.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 7 probably means ＿＿＿＿.
A．good marks result from high-quality study
B．findings probably vary in different areas
C．physical activity will spread all over the world
D．academic performance depends on the surroundings
4.What's the purpose of writing the passage?
A．To call our attention to the sports at school．
B．To introduce all types of physical activities．
C．To represent the academic performance．
D．To improve students' health ．
难度: 中等查看答案及解析