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FESTIVALS IN LONDON
London hosts each year a variety of celebrations and festivals. All of them are national and Foreign holidays. Below we show you the most amazing holidays and festivals in London.
New Year's Day Parade
This Parade is a free event which takes place annually on I January since 1987.M lasts about 2 hours 30 minutes, featuring more than 10.000 Participants representing 20 countries worldwide. There are marching bands, cheerleading groups, vehicles, animals, clowns and giant inflatables(充气物).
Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race
Since 1829 each spring the two England's most famous universities race along a 6.7 kilometer stretch of the Thames River in what is perhaps the most famous rowing event in the world. The race attracts a massive crowd of around a quarter of a million fan to the banks of the Thames
London Marathon
The Flora London Marathon, one of the World Marathon Majors, has been held each year since 1981. Currently around 32,000 runners take part in this annual event, including professionals and amateurs. There are live bands entertainment and thousands of cheering fans. It is also one of the largest events to collect money in the world in order to attract more funds, some runners dress up in fancy costumes.
Wimbledon
Wimbledon runs annually from late June through early July, Wimbledon is the oldest and most famous tennis tournament in the world, the only Grand Slam event played on grass courts. Started in 1877, he event is often attended by members of the Royal Family, Wimbledon traditions include the eating of strawberries and cream that can be accompanied by an optional glass of champagne.
1.Which of the four festivals has the longest history?
A.New Year's Day Parade. B.Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race.
C.London Marathon. D.Wimbledon.
2.London Marathon is different from the other three in that______.
A.it has the purpose of donating money to other events
B.it attracts many more fans from around the world
C.it is the only festival accompanied by live band
D.it has the function of raising money
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Over the past few months huge groups of locusts(蝗虫), one of which occupied an area more than three times the size of New York City, have eaten up crops across the Home of Africa and the Middle East, leaving an estimated 20 million people at risk of famine(饥荒). The first generation's eggs are starting to hatch, and now even bigger swarms(虫群) are forming threatening. Countries from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Yemen, Iran, Pakistan and India, “representing a threat to food security and livelihoods,” says the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization(FAO).
Desert locusts' populations explode when weather conditions are right. That explosion can create huge swarms that can travel great distance-more than 90 miles in a day-in search of food. Warm weather and unusually heavy rains in the Horn of Africa at the end of 2019 provided the moist(湿润的) soil necessary for hatching eggs. From there, the insects spread rapidly, resulting in one of the worst outbreaks the region has seen in more than 70 years.
A typical swarm numbering 4 billion to 8 billion locusts, can consume in one day the same amount of food as 35 million people. Some swarms have been so thick in parts of Kenya that they have prevented planes from taking off. Governments have used widespread aerial spraying of pesticides when available; in poorer regions, where aircraft are unavailable, soldiers battle the swarms with handheld spray pump.
The FAO has appealed for $138 million to support affected communities, If the locusts are not stopped before the next generation hatches, the impact could be terrible: the FAO guesses that an additional 25 million people across the region could lose their crops. Scientists in Kenya hope a new computer-assisted tracking program that combines satellite data with weather-mapping software will help predict the swarms next destination, buying-regional authorities enough time to prepare a response. Buy coronavirus- related travel restriction have delayed relief efforts as well as response mechanisms. The locusts have no such travel limitations.
1.The author uses many statistics in the passage to show_____
A.the disastrous consequence of the outbreaks of locusts
B.the serious conditions facing the New York City
C.the speed of swarms of locusts travelling
D.the exact number of crops consumed by locusts
2.What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?
A.The great distances locusts can travel.
B.The explosion of locusts' population.
C.The perfect conditions for hatching their eggs.
D.The result of the unusual outbreaks of locusts.
3.What does the last paragraph imply?
A.The travel restrictions may probably worsen the urgent situation.
B.It is unlikely to predict the swarms' next destination now.
C.A lot of money has been raised after the FAO's appeal
D.It's not difficult for humans to win the battle against the locust
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Dog owners swear that their furry best mend is in tune with their emotions, Now it seems this sense of interspecies connection is real: dogs can smell your emotions, and adopt them as their own
We already know dogs can see and hear the signs of human emotions says Biagio D'Aniello at the University of Naples Federico II, Italy. But nobody had studied whether dogs could pick up on olfactory(嗅觉的) signals from humans.
“The role of the olfactory system has been largely undervalued, maybe because our own species is more focused on the visual system.” says D'Aniello. However, dogs 'sense of smelling is far superior to ours, D'Aniello and his colleagues tested whether dogs could really sniff out our emotions. First, human volunteers watched videos designed to induce fear, happiness or a neutral response and the team collected samples of their sweat. Next, the researchers presented these sweat samples to dogs ,and monitored their behavior and heart rates. Dogs exposed to fear smells showed more signs of stress than those sniffing happy or neutral smells. They also had higher heart rates, and made less social contact with strangers.
D'Aniello's study suggests humans can unconsciously, hijack their dogs' emotion by releasing smells .A second study suggests dogs can return the favour, using their expressive faces.
Juliane Kaminski at the University of Portsmouth, UK, and her colleagues have found that dogs' faces fare most expressive when they know people are looking at them.
The researchers introduced dogs to a human who was either looking at them or facing away and either offering food or nothing. The team analyzed how much the dogs' facial movements varied in the four situations. They found that the dogs' facial expressions varied most when the person was looking at them. Kaminski says there was no sign of a “dinner table effect”, which “would predict that dogs try and look super-cute when they want something from the humans”.
It's not clear precisely how dogs visually signal us and how we respond, says Monique Udell of Oregon State University in Corvallis. “This kind of research is needed to fully understand the nature of the human-dog relationship.”
1.How did D'Aniello's research team carry out their study on dog's ability of sniffing out humans' emotions?
A.By analyzing the sweat samples from the dogs.
B.By monitoring dogs' response Co the same videos
C.By letting the dogs watch the volunteers 'expressive faces.
D.By watching the dogs' reactions to the given sweat samples.
2.The underlined word "hijack" probably means?
A.Study. B.Control.
C.Find. D.Display,
3.What can we infer from the second study?
A.Dinner-table effect really exists.
B.Dogs are very sensitive to human attention.
C.Dogs showed no facial expression when offered nothing
D.Dogs' facial expressions vary most when they want attention.
4.What is still puzzling scientists according to the passage?
A.How dogs react to human smells.
B.How dogs respond to humans 'attention.
C.How dogs hear and see the signs of humans' emotions.
D.How dogs communicate with humans by the sense of slightly.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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John Perry decided it was time to go home. It had been a perfect day. He had filled his bag with all sorts of seashells, enough to study for a month. The island had been a good place to find shell but mow the sun was going down, he must leave before it got dark. He came to the sand reef that connected the island and the shore of the mainland. He stopped for a moment to enjoy the sunset on the ocean water. Then he began to walk along the sand reef toward the shore.
He hurried on. Then, suddenly he stepped into the water. Before he knew what had happened, he dropped down and down. The water was covering his head. He rose to the top of the water, struggling to get back on to the dry sand, surprised. To his horror he saw long grey sharks there in the sea, but where was the sand reef? What had happened to it?
He began to walk back toward the island. While he had searched for shells on the island, the strong ocean waves had washed a large part of the sand reef away. He did not know much about Sharks/but he was a good swimmer. He tried to remember what he had read about sharks. Did sharks find their food by smelling it? If they did, it meant they looked for food at all times, even during the night,
①Most of the night he lay down and looked up at the stars thinking. He thought of the people in the village. He was their doctor, the only doctor in the village felt good to be needed. He thought of wood for a fire, wood to signal for help, but there was no wood. At last he thought of sleep. He slept until the sun rose.
②The sharks were there because the fish were there. The same waves that had washed the sand reef away had somehow pushed large schools of fish into the area. He watched the sharks kill.
He looked at the sea, if he swam to shore, he would be in the water 5,6 minutes. A lot could happen during that time. A wind blew across the water. Small waves rushed across the top and stopped him from seeing the bottom. He hoped the wind would stop. Somehow, clear water seemed less dangerous.
③But first, he looked all around before he took off all his clothes He kept only his belt and his small knife. He silently slipped into the water. He went deep down and looked around. He was about to rise to the top and start swimming when he saw a long grey body below him. He kicked himself up to the top and struggled to the sand.
④ He stood up and looked around again. How could he make the sharks move out to sea? He put the knife against his leg and cut deep into the flesh, blood running out. He caught it on his white shirt. When the shirt was red and wet, he tied some cloths around his leg to stop the flow of blood. He tied a long piece of cloth to the shirt, then he threw the shirt into the water and pulled it with a piece of cloth.
The sharks smelled the blood; they came racing toward the shirt. He was leading then away from shore. Suddenly he dropped the cloth turned toward shore and ran as fast as he could He jumped into the water and swam. He kicked and shouted as loud as he could. He touched the shore with his fingers and pulled himself up the stones.
The shark was excited by the smell of blood and the chase went after him; its great body crushed against the stones. The other sharks jumped on it The end came quickly as the sharks’ blood turned the water red. The injured shark was eaten alive as it tried to escape.
Perry slowly got to his feet. So, he said, “you did not get me.”
He looked down at the sharks still eating even though they were full of food.
1.What happened to the sand reef while John Perry was searching for seashells?
A.It was destroyed by the ocean waves.
B.It was covered by the rising tide of the ocean.
C.It fell down hen sharks were running after fishes around
D.It was washed away by the ocean waves created by the sharks.
2.What made him think he was important to the villagers?
A.His seashells. B.His swimming skill.
C.His bravery. D.His occupation.
3.Why didn't he choose to escape in the night?
A.Darkness made no difference to sharks at all.
B.Darkness would increase the risk of his behavior.
C.Sharks could still see him clearly in the darkness
D.Sharks seldom attacked humans during the daytime.
4.Where should the sentence "He decided to swim." be put in the passage?
A.① B.② C.③ D.④
5.What do you think of John Perry?
A.Cruel and violent. B.Clever and smart.
C.Skilled but careless. D.Courageous but silly.
6.What can be a suitable title for the passage?
A.A narrow escape from hungry sharks B.An unforgettable day with sharks
C.A close fight against fierce sharks D.An unexpected meeting with sharks
难度: 中等查看答案及解析