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The Collection
The Portrait Gallery’s collection is an exceptional national resource of over 30,000 fascinating images containing a rich variety of media and including many internationally outstanding works of art. The portraits depict (刻画）the men and women whose lives and achievements helped shape Scotland and the wider world. The Gallery is also home to the NGS ’ s outstanding collection of photographs which includes around 6,000 works by the early Scottish pioneers of the medium, Robert Adamson and David Octavius Hill as well as new works by leading-edge contemporary photographers.
Visitor Facilities
The new Portrait Gallery cafe serves a delicious menu of fresh dishes and classic recipes, using the very best local ingredients and seasonal produce. Our new shop offers a fresh twist on design—led gifts and souvenirs. The Gallery now has all the facilities which today’s visitors expect, including a fantastic new lift, an Education suite and disabled access throughout the building.
1.What do we learn about the Scottish National Portrait Gallery?
A. Every display reflects Scotland.
B. It is well-known for its building.
C. There are about 6,000 works in it.
D. It has a comparatively short history.
2.Its visitor facilities can be described as ________.
A. rare and user-friendly
B. characteristic and attractive
C. modern and all-round
D. beneficial and conventional
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Consumers everywhere are faced with the same dilemma: given limited resources, what sorts of purchases are most likely to produce lasting happiness and satisfaction? Recent research has confirmed that experiential purchases tend to produce greater hedonic (享乐的）gains than material purchases.
The reason why experiences improve with time may be because it is possible to think about experiences in a more abstract manner than possessions. For example, if you think back to a fantastic summer from your youth, you might easily remember an abstract sense of warm sunshine and youthful exuberant (生气勃勃), but you're less likely to remember exactly what you did day-by-day.
Material possessions are harder to think about in an abstract sense. The car you bought is still a car, that great new jacket you picked up cheap is still just a jacket. It’s more likely the experience of that summer has taken on a symbolic meaning that can live longer in your memory than a possession.
Purchasing may have a negative impact on happiness because consumers often buy “joyless” material possessions, resulting in comfort but not pleasure. In general, people adapt to experiences more slowly than to material purchase. This can be seen in both negative and positive purchases: hedonic adaptation would result in a positive experience causing more happiness but a negative experience causing less happiness than the comparable material purchase with the same initial happiness level.
Experience, however, seems to be more resistant to these sorts of unfavourable comparisons. It is because of the unique nature of experience. It’s more difficult to make an unfavourable comparison when there is nothing directly comparable. After all, each of our youthful summers is different.
It’s well established that social comparisons can have a huge effect on how we view what might seem like positive events. One striking example is the finding that people prefer to earn $50,000 a year while everyone else earns $25,000, instead of earning $100,000 themselves and having other people earn $200,000.
A similar effect is seen for possessions. When there are so many flat-screen HD TVs to choose from, it's easy to make unfavourable comparisons between our choice and the others available.
1.An abstract sense in the passage refers to awareness of something __________.
A. you cannot think about
B. you can’ t remember well
C. you cannot understand
D. you cannot see or touch
2.If you make an experiential purchase before a material purchase, you may go to__________.
A. a theatre before going to a store
B. an exhibition before going to a park
C. a mall before going to a grocer's
D. a market before going to a restaurant
3.The example of earnings is given to actually indicate__________.
A. how ridiculous people are
B. how people feel content
C. how nearsighted people are
D. how people hold prejudice
4.It is implied in the passage that, after their material purchases, people might__________.
A. enjoy their ownership of what they have bought
B. pick every fault in the products they have got
C. regret making a wrong decision to buy the items
D. leave what they’ve purchased untouched at home
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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In a unique research cooperation between Stratasys, Education, R&D departments and MIT’s Self-Assembly Lab, a new process is being developed, known as 4D Printing.
The 4D printing concept, which allows materials to “self-assemble (自行组装)” into 3D structures, was initially proposed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty member Skylar Tibbits. Tibbits and his team combined a strand (缕) of plastic with a layer made out of “smart” material that could self-assemble in water. They advanced this concept by creating materials that can change into several different complicated shapes, though this kind of material remains the bottleneck of 4D technology.
To many people that are just starting to get used to the idea of 3D printers, the name 4D is causing confusion because they cannot understand where this fourth “dimension” coming from. 4D technology shares many of the same principles of 3D printing and is essentially still about creating a new, 3D structure out of certain component; however, Tibbits states the fourth dimension at work here comes from concept of the fourth dimension of time. The difference between these 3D and 4D creations is that these new forms have the ability to transform and adapt over time.
4D printing works through self-assembly — a system where “disordered elements form an “ordered” structure via an interaction. With these 4D printed materials, these disordered materials are strands or sheets of specially designed materials. Environmental changes then stimulate (刺激）a response from them so that they form a preprogrammed shape.
The idea of having adaptable technology that only relies on energy and non-human interactions raises some interesting questions about where 4D printing can be used and the practical applications in dangerous environments. This could mean improved infrastructures in extreme conditions, leading to a reduced need for workers to put themselves at risk, but the potential goes even further than that. The technology promises exciting new possibilities for a variety of applications. A solar panel or similar product could be produced in a flat shape onto which functional devices can be easily installed. It could then be changed to a compact shape for packing and shipping. After arriving at its destination, the product could be stimulated to form a different shape that serves its function. Also it could be used to build furniture, bikes, cars and even buildings. As with many of the ideas being put forward, it is easy to go a step too far into the extreme, but this just shows the potential of 4D in comparison to 3D.
The next stage for the research is to move from printing single strands to sheets and eventually whole structures. And water need not be the process ’ s only energy source.
1.Which of the following displays the fourth dimension of 4D printing?
A. 4D printing creates a new, 3D structure out of certain component.
B. 4D technology reduces need for workers to put themselves at risk.
C. 4D technology can be used in many more fields than 3D printing.
D. 4D printed materials reshape themselves with conditions changing.
2.The major problem concerning the development of 4D printing lies in__________.
A. producing essential 4D printers
B. creating proper smart materials
C. providing a suitable environment
D. promoting practical applications
3.What does the passage lead you to believe?
A. 4D printing will take the place of 3D printing in the near future.
B. Most aspects of our daily life can be affected by 4D printing.
C. 4D printing will benefit humans by saving labor somehow.
D. Smart materials can be transformed into other types of material.
4.It can be inferred from the passage that__________.
A. electricity is not used in 4D technology
B. 4D printing has been applied in industry
C. more potential of 4D is to be discovered
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Dear Textual Healing,
I would be very interested in your recommendations for any books to help me through a difficult time of my life. At 57, f am feeling a bit lost. I have a wonderful, loving husband and bright, caring teenage daughter but I am lonely and have lost my spark for life.
I have always taken care of everyone and managed a career, but, after the death of my father this summer, my difficulties as a child in a terribly abnormal family have come back to me regularly. / have become unfocused and often alone while my husband is away frequently on business and my daughter busy with school and friends.
I am seeking the help of a therapist and taking care of myself but I would love to read something to help me “get my groove (理想状况）back” and reengage with life.
PC
Dear PC,
From the letter you’ve given us about your life, it’s no wonder you’re feeling a little lost. But before prescribing titles to help you get your groove back, I’d recommend taking a journey into Rebecca Solnit’s non-fiction book, A Field Guide to Getting Lost, which is packed with the wisdom of everyone from Pat Barker to Thoreau and Keats.
The word lost is rooted in the Old Norse “los”，meaning the disbanding of an army. “This origin suggests soldiers falling out of formation to go home, ceasing fighting with the wide world. I worry now that many people never disband their armies, never go beyond what they know,” Solnit writes. So instead of fearing that lost feeling, try seeing its potential for discovery. Explorers, remember, are always lost simply because they’re forever someplace new.
“Leave the door open for the unknown, the door into the dark,” Solnit advises. “That’s where the most important things come from, where you yourself came from, and where you will go.”
For something that asks a little less of the reader while still giving plenty in return, try a dose (―剂）of Anne Tyler, the beloved creator of numerous heroes whose serious conditions will move anyone who finds themselves in a midlife difficult situation. One such character is 53-year-old Rebecca Davitch, the heroine of Back When We Were Grownups. Like you, she’s combined marriage and motherhood with a career but suddenly finds herself feeling lonely in her own home. Could it be, she wonders, that she’s “turned into the wrong person"? Don't be fooled by the way this novel ambles along — as Rebecca revisits youthful ambitions and the college boyfriend she abandoned, it asks some heart-rending questions before arriving at a place of graceful, joyous acceptance.
Along similar lines, I'm also going to recommend The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce. Its hero is 65 when he learns that a former colleague sick. On his way to post her a note，he decides instead to visit her— on foot, from his home in deepest Devon to England's northernmost town, more than 600 miles away. You don’t manage that without focus! It’s a journey to a holy place that will take him 87 days to complete, during which he considers his childhood, marriage and relationship with his son, and becomes an accidental media sensation (轰动). By the time he reaches his destination, you’ll feel anything but tired.
Finally, Ruth Ozeki’s novel A Tale for the Time Being will charm the missing spark back into your life. Combining the diary of a sad Tokyo teenager with the story of the middle-aged novelist who finds it, washed ashore on a remote island off the coast of British Columbia, it’s a beautiful illustration of how our lives touch — and are touched by — others in ways we mightn't even be aware of. This Man Booker Prize finalist has plenty to teach about Zen Buddhism, and unless you happen to live in one of its settings, it provides a bracing change of scene, too.
One other suggestion: books, as we all know, make great companions but that doesn't mean they can’t be enjoyed in the company of others. If you find yourself home alone, why not slip one into your back pack and head out to a favourite café.
1.What has mainly led to PC’s negative attitude to life?
A. The lack of helpful books.
B. The blow of her father’s death.
C. The contrast between her devotion to others and her being ignored.
D. The contrast between her easy life and her family members busy life.
2.By mentioning the origin of the word lost, Textual Healing implies that__________.
A. PC should extend her knowledge by reading more
B. PC should stop struggling with anyone around her
C. PC had better try to avoid going someplace new
D. PC oughtn’t to be trapped in her present situation
3.Who clarifies the idea in his/her work that people are socially related?
A. Rebecca Solnit.
B. Anne Tyler.
C. Rachel Joyce.
D. Ruth 0zeki.
4.The character Rebecca Davitch is mentioned by Textual Healing because her experience is__________.
A. typical B. persuasive
C. enjoyable D. extraordinary
5.Which of the following can be the proper title?
A. Which books will cure loneliness?
B. How can you get rid of loneliness?
C. Here are good examples for you
D. Books will keep you busy and healthy
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
