Whether you're looking for antiques, food, collectors' items or just random junk, our rich heritage has produced some of the finest markets in the world. Here are 3 of them.
Edinburgh Farmers’ Market
Traders have long sold their goods in the shadow of the city’s spectacular castle, which dates back to 1130—－and it’s a tradition that shows no sign of abating. Edinburgh Farmers’ Market takes place on Castle Terrace every Saturday and attracts a huge crowd with its locally sourced goods. The market is now in its 15th year and champions the very best in Scottish produce, from knitwear to organic water buffalo and lobster.
Ford Airfield Market
Looking for an old-style prosthetic leg, a ventriloquist’s dummy, or even a suit of armour? The chances are you will find what you are after—and plenty of other random stuff—at one of the hundreds of stalls here. A market and two huge car-boot sales are held throughout the week all year round, come rain or shine.The market has been running for 25 years and is a well-known treasure trove for antiques experts looking for a bargain.
St George’s Market
Follow your nose along May Street in Belfast and the smells of delicious home-made food from across the globe will land you in St George’s Market. With three different weekly markets accompanied by fresh food and live music, St George’s was once voted the best in the UK. When Belfast became an important port in the 17th century, the range of goods grew and trading thrived.
1.What is special about Edinburgh Farmers’ Market?
A.It lasts a long time.
B.It provides local products.
C.It offers all kinds of food.
D.It attracts antiques experts.
2.When was the trading at St George’s Market booming?
A.It the year of 1130.
B.Fifteen years ago.
C.In the 17th century
D.Twenty-five years ago.
3.Where is this text most likely from ?
A.A diary. B.A novel.
C.A website. D.A magazine.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
One special grandmother is lending 100 years of wisdom to strangers on New York City’s upper West side. Her office attracts many New Yorkers, who wait for a chat with the woman.
Inside the office, you will find a laptop with 100-year-old grandmother Eileen Wilkinson waiting to chat. She may live across the country in Washington State, but thanks to her grandson, Mike Matthews, who is a social professor at New York University, she is now sharing words of wisdom for a chat.
“You can be anything you want, ” Eileen said. “Don’t complain about anything. You can do something about it.”
Over the past three months, hundreds of people have stopped by, chatting with Eileen as if they were old friends. “She completely gets a kick out of meeting New Yorkers because they are so open about their lives, ” said Matthews.
A music student asked for advice on a performance. Others were curious about life in 1917.
One boy said he was already planning his next visit. “She is so wise and energetic,” he said. “And she really doesn't look 100 years old. She looks as if she was in her early late 80s.”
Eileen spent most of her life as a homemaker and mother. She said truly listening gave her advice-giving ability and she was honest.
Eileen hosts online chats and has two accounts of the social media. “It works both ways because I get great joy talking to them, ” she said. Eileen isn't slowing down any time soon, bringing new meaning to the saying, “The road to your grandma’s house is never long.” She said the secret to her long life was living a good life.
1.How does Eileen help strangers?
A.By chatting with them.
B.By working for them.
C.By lending money to them.
D.By giving speeches to them.
2.What do strangers think of Eileen?
A.She is a responsible mother.
B.She is good at performing.
C.She is full of energy and wisdom.
D.She is a woman of caring for education.
3.What will Eileen do in the future?
A.Set up online chats.
B.Make her life simple.
C.Bring new meaning to the saying.
D.Continue to share her wisdom.
4.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Ways of Living a Good Life.
B.A Special 100-year-old Woman.
C.Helping the Strangers Is Interesting.
D.The Secret to a 100-year-old Woman’s Long Life.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
In recent years, stressed-out urbanites have been seeking refuge in green spaces for the proven positive impacts on physical and mental health, but the benefits of “blue space” — the sea and coastline, but also rivers, lakes, canals, waterfalls, even fountains — are less well publicized, yet the science has been consistent for at least a decade: being by water is good for body and mind.
“Many of the processes are exactly the same as with green space — with some added benefits, ” says Dr Mathew White, a senior lecturer at the University of Exeter.White says there are three established pathways by which the presence of water is positively related to health and happiness. First, there are the beneficial environmental factors, such as less polluted air and more sunlight. Second, people who live by water tend to be more physically active. Third — and this is where blue space seems to have an edge over other natural environments — water has a psychologically restorative effect. When you are sailing, surfing or swimming, says White, “you’re really in tune with natural forces there.” By being forced to concentrate on the qualities of the environment, we access a cognitive state honed over millennia. Water is, quite literally, immersive.
Catherine Kelly is a wellness practitioner who teaches classes in “mindfulness by the sea”. She says the sea has a meditative quality.
“To go to the sea is synonymous with letting go, ” says Kelly. “It could be lying on a beach or somebody handing you a cocktail. For somebody else, it could be a wild, empty coast. But there is this really human sense of: ‘Oh, look, there’s the sea’ — and the shoulders drop.”
1.Why do people go to the “blue space” for a relaxation ?
A.To seek positive effect on body and mind.
B.To have a good swim in the blue sea.
C.To consider the beneficial environmental factors.
D.To tend to be more careful and active.
2.What is the second paragraph mainly about?
A.The characteristics of the beneficial and friendly environmental factors.
B.The classification of being by water is good for body and mind.
C.The importance of the beneficial and friendly environmental factors.
D.The causes of being by water are good for body and mind.
3.What does the underlined word “immersive” in paragraph 2 refer to?
A.Being interested. B.Being forced.
C.Being involved. D.Being moved.
4.What does Catherine Kelly find about “going to the sea” according to the text?
A.Trick of the lesson B.Secret of the happiness.
C.Sense of human beings D.Broadness of the sea
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Languages will continue to diverge. Even if English were to become the universal language, it would still take many different forms. Indeed the same could happen to English as has happened to Chinese: a language of intellectuals which doesn’t vary hugely alongside a large number of variations used by local peoples.
We will continue to teach other languages in some form, and not just for reasons of practical use. Learning a language is good for your mental health; it forces you to understand another cultural and intellectual system. So I hope British education will develop a more rational approach to the foreign languages available to students in line with their political importance. Because so many people believe it is no longer important to know another language, I fear that time devoted to language teaching in schools may well continue to decline. But you can argue that learning another language well is more exhausting than, say, learning to play chess well—it involves sensitivity to a set of complicated rules, and also to context.
Technology will certainly make a difference to the use of foreign languages. Computers may, for instance, relieve the hard work that a vast translation represents. But no one who has seen a computer translation will think it can substitute for live knowledge of the different languages. A machine will always be behind the times. Still more important is the fact that no computer will ever get at the associations beyond the words associations that may not be expressed but which carry much of the meaning. In languages like Arabic that context is very important. Languages come with heavy cultural baggage too—in French or German if you miss the cultural references behind a word you’re very likely to be missing the meaning. It will be very hard to teach all that to computer.
All the predictions are that English will be spoken by a declining proportion of the world’s population in the 21st century. I don’t think foreign languages will really become less important, but they might be perceived to be— and that would in the end be — a very bad thing.
1.According to the text,we can infer that Chinese _______.
A.is a language full of cultural background
B.is narrowly used by local peoples
C.will be regarded as important as English
D.will soon become the universal language
2.Which of the following best describes the author’s opinion ?
A.Foreign languages should be taught for political importance.
B.Learning another language is just like learning to play chess well.
C.British education lacks a rational approach to the teaching of foreign languages.
D.Learning a language need to know a country’ cultural and intellectual system.
3.Why can the computer translation make a difference to the use of foreign languages?
A.It can replace for live knowledge of the different languages.
B.It can always keep the pace with the times in the translation.
C.It can reduce the hard work that a vast translation represents.
D.It can express the implied meaning beyond word associations.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A.Learning foreign languages is a challenging job.
B.Learning a language is good for your mental health.
C.Cultural background blocks the understanding of a language.
D.Computers play an important role in learning foreign languages.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析
The Segway（平衡车）was invented by Dean Kamen, and was first shown to the public in 2001 by ABC’s Good Morning America program. 1. The word Segway is remarkably close to the word ” segue” which means “to move smoothly from one thing to another”
The Segway looks like a large stick with two wheels. The wheels are connected to a platform. The stick has handles for a person to hold. The person stands on the platform and holds the handles. The transporter moves forward or backward when the person moves his or her body in that direction. 2. Computers and certain devices on the Segway make the vehicle move and balance. It is powered by batteries that can be recharged. It can travel at a speed of 20 kilometers an hour.
3. Today these vehicles are used to take people on tours in parks .The Angel Island in San Francisco uses the Segway to take people around. The Segway was also used by the police at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
However, the vehicle has not found acceptance from the general public. 4.A review of the history of the Segway will show that some people are still uncomfortable about riding a two –wheeled self-balancing vehicle. Another reason is that the US has different regulations on the roads and streets where the Segway can be used. Most states recommend that a helmet be worn when riding this vehicle.
5. While its usage may be limited for now, there is still no telling what it will be used for in the coming year.
A. The history of the Segway has just begun
B. The driver turns the handles to go left or right.
C. If you have never experienced a Segway tour before, we expect you to join us .
D. Those who have ridden on the Segway say it is best used for short journeys.
E. As a result, the most popular use of the Segway is in tourism, particularly for city tours.
F. This unique invention was intended to help people travel throughout public city streets.
G. One reason is that the price is similar to other vehicles which they are more familiar with.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
Daniel Mazur and his companions spent seven hours climbing up Mt Everest through ice and snow, digging the crampons（攀岩用鞋冰爪）into the ice and taking _____steps. They were less than three hours away from the spectacular 29,017-foot summit. As Daniel looked out on the ______peaks below, he suddenly saw a flash of bright yellow to his left. To his _____, it moved.“What the hell ?”he _____. When he _____, Daniel noticed a man sitting on the edge of a cliff, with no hat, gloves or _____. Pulling his frostbitten hands out of his snowsuit, the man named Hall burst into laughter. _____, he suffered from cerebral edema(脑水肿), which______ to his loss of consciousness. The other men ______Hall away from the cliff 's edge and helped him back into his ______. They attached their ropes to Hall in case he _____off the cliff. They were______when two Italian climbers, intent on reaching the summit, passed by. Sadly, they______to help. It _____Daniel and his team two days to lower Hall down. As soon as they arrived at the safe and suitable place, Hall was sent to the hospital immediately.
____their help, Hall could very well have died on Everest . Although his rescue is a_____, it has caused a debate on climbers who leave behind the sick and injured in ______ of Everest's grand prize. “Once you are up there, you _____as though you could do anything.” Danie said, “Sure, I wish I could have reached the _____again. But there's no _____we could have left Hall on that ridge.”
1.A.special B.severe C.cautious D.worried
2.A.snow-covered B.fog-covered C.water-covered D.rock-covered
3.A.embarrassment B.amazement C.excitement D.amusement
4.A.wandered B.discovered C.wondered D.cried
5.A.started B.thought C.stayed D.approached
6.A.trousers B.shoes C.snowsuits D.sunglasses
7.A.Finally B.Normally C.Obviously D.Easily
8.A.led B.returned C.responded D.adapted
9.A.spread B.drew C.brought D.broke
10.A.snowsuit B.jacket C.spacesuit D.coat
11.A.hurried B.blew C.climbed D.slipped
12.A.relieved B.surprised C.confused D.worried
13.A.offered B.refused C.hesitated D.tended
14.A.finished B.paid C.spent D.took
15.A.Except B.Without C.besides D.With
16.A.mystery B.miracle C.routine D.sight
17.A.need B.favour C.pursuit D.search
18.A.save B.deserve C.decide D.feel
19.A.bottom B.cliff C.edge D.summit
20.A.way B.doubt C.trouble D.sign
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。
Why do you pull yourself out of bed every morning 1.(go) to work or school? Knowing what motivates, you can help you find meaning in your work and focus on your goals.
Experts have many ways of describing and differentiating motivations because people care about so many different things. Some motivations such as money and praise are external (外部的). Bosses 2.(usual) use them to encourage their employees to spare no efforts in their work. Other motivations, including fun, personal growth and feeling like one's work is important, 3.(come) from within the person doing the action.These are 4.(reliable) than external ones because they represent things that can never be taken away.
Since there are 5.large number of existing motivations, 6.is important to know which ones are persuasive to you. Trying to motivate yourself in a way that isn't 7.(attract) to you will make it difficult to convince yourself to work. When 8.(choose) a career, you should think about what motivates you and make some 9.(decision) accordingly. If you are motivated by overcoming challenges, look for a career 10.you can continually fight to get to a higher level.
When you know what motivates you, you will be able to motivate yourself to do the things necessary to succeed.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下画一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
The high school life of three years have made me learn a lot of things. Among them teamwork is the most significantly for me. In fact, I didn’t realize its importance after I was elected monitor of my class. In the beginning, I did almost all the duties myself. However, other students cared little about class activity. As a consequence, I tired out and depressed. Then I turned to my head teacher, whom advised me to cooperate with others. Thus I began to recognize the strengths at my classmates and managed to have everyone to play a role in class. It is working in teams instead of on my own which has freed me of trouble and made my work more efficient. Without teamwork, I wouldn’t have made such many achievements at school.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
假定你是李华，计划下周六去买有关中国文化经典的书籍，你校交换生Peter想与你一起前往。请给他写封邮件说明你的计划，内容包括：
1. 见面时间和地点；
2. 交通方式；
3. 其它活动。
注意:1. 词数100左右;
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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难度: 中等查看答案及解析