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Top Four Unusual Shops
Senbikiya
If you are looking for something perfect, come to Senbikiya in Tokyo, Japan! You buy fruit-perfect and very expensive fruit. There are apples for $25 each and 12 strawberries for$82. Yes, it's expensive... but it's popular.
Beacon 's Closet
Are you looking for something old… something other people don’t want any more? Then Beacon's Closet in New York, USA is the place for you. People bring clothes they don't want and other people buy them. These second-hand clothes are of good quality -and cheap!
The Old Curiosity Shop
Sometimes the building is what makes your shopping experience special; for example,The Old Curiosity Shop in London, England. It is a tiny old shop which Charles Dickens wrote about in 1841. There are lots of big modern buildings around it. It is now a shoe shop.
El Ateneo Grand Splendid
From a tiny building to a huge one: the famous bookshop El Ateneo Grand Splendid in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In 1919, the building opened as a theatre, but in February 2000, it became one of the biggest-and most beautiful -bookshops in the world.
1.What can you buy in Senbikiya?
A.Shoes. B.Clothes. C.Books. D.Fruit.
2.Beacon's Closet is in_____________.
A.Buenos Aires B.New York C.London D.Tokyo
3.Which shop did Charles Dickens write about?
A.Senbikiya. B.Beacon's Closet.
C.The Old Curiosity Shop. D.El Ateneo Grand Splendid.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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The Life of Jane Goodall
On the morning of July 14, 1960, Jane Goodall arrived at Lake Tanganyika in the Gombe National Park. Then around 5 p. m, Jane went into the forest to find her first chimpanzee.
As a young woman, Jane Goodall was following her childhood dream of studying chimpanzees in Africa. After many months of difficult work she made three important discoveries: chimpanzees ate meat, they used tools to get food, and they also made tools.
Every evening, Jane wrote her findings in her journal. She began to publish articles in magazines. After a while, Jane was accepted by a university. Her work was also making her famous. There was a documentary (纪录片)film,Miss Goodall and the Wild Chimpanzees (1963), and then My Friends the Wild Chimpanzees (1969), the first of many books. During the 1970s, Gombe became a dangerous place to work. It is on the border of four different countries and there was fighting among them. Many foreigners left, but Jane stayed to continue her workand noted that chimpanzees could also be violent.
A different problem developed in Gombe in the 1980s. The forests were getting smaller and there was no enough space for chimpanzees because of the increasing human population.As a result, there were only about a hundred chimpanzees living in Gombe by t the end of the1980s. Jane realized something had to be done, so she made a plan with the local community to grow more trees.
At the beginning of the 1990s, Jane left Gombe. She set up sanctuaries (庇护所)for chimpanzees which had been caught because of the trade in chimpanzee meat. She also started giving speeches. She has very little spare time but still spends part of every year in the forest in Gombe, watching her chimpanzees.
1.What was Jane's childhood dream?
A.To explore forests in Africa.
B.To make a documentary film.
C.To write books about animals.
D.To study chimpanzees in Africa.
2.What did Jane do in the 1970s?
A.She continued to work in Gombe.
B.She went to study in a university.
C.She found her first chimpanzee.
D.She published her first book.
3.What plan did Jane make to help chimpanzees in1980s?
A.To grow more trees B.To do more studies
C.To stop the fighting. D.To set up sanctuaries
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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Nature in Art
Many artists paint and use nature in their works, but the results are very different. Here are four of them.
Stanislaw Witkiewicz Stanislaw Witkiewicz was born in 1885 in Zakopane, Poland. He died in 1939. Many people like Witkiewicz’s paintings of nature and landscapes (风景). He painted this one in 1907. It
shows the Hinczow Lakes in south Poland.
Ginger Riley Munduwalawala In the past, Aboriginal (原始的) people painted pictures of nature on rocks. Modern aboriginal artists also paint nature. This colorful painting by Ginger Riley Munduwalawala (1937 – 2002) shows hills, rivers, birds and kangaroos.
Ando Hiroshige Japanese art is famous for landscape paintings. You can often see the sea and sky, the mountains, and trees. Ando Hiroshige, one of Japan’s most famous artists, made and sold thousands of beautiful prints in his lifetime, but he died poor.
Damien Hirst Damien Hirst is the richest artist in England. He is a painter, but he is more famous for art with animals. In one room of a gallery, he put lots of fruit and real butterflies. They flew around the
visitors.
1.When did Stanislaw paint the Hinczow Lakes?
A.In 1885. B.In 1907. C.In 1937. D.In 1939.
2.Where is Ando Hiroshige from?
A.Poland. B.Australia. C.Japan. D.England.
3.Who is famous for art with animals?
A.Stanislaw Witkiewicz. B.Ginger Riley Munduwalawala.
C.Ando Hisroshige. D.Damie Hirst.
难度: 简单查看答案及解析
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Many scientists believe our love of sugar may actually be an addiction (上瘾). When we eat or drink sugary foods, the sugar enters our blood and influences parts of our brain that make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away, leaving us wanting more. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has a particularly strong effect. In this way, it is in fact addictive, and doctors suggest we all cut down on it.
“It seems like every time I study an illness, I find my way back to sugar,” says scientist Richard Johnson. One-third of adults worldwide have high blood pressure ( 血 压 ), and up to 347 million have diabetes (糖尿病). Why? “Sugar, we believe, is one of the reasons, if not the main reason,” says Johnson.
Our bodies are designed to survive on very little sugar. Early humans often had very little food, so our bodies learned to keep sugar as fat. In this way, we had energy stored for when there was no food. But today, most people have more than enough. So the very thing that once saved us may now be killing us.
So what is the solution? It’s obvious that we need to eat less sugar. The trouble is, in today’s world, it’s extremely difficult to avoid. From breakfast cereals to after-dinner desserts, our foods are increasingly filled with it. Some manufacturers ( 制造 商) even use sugar to replace taste in foods that are advertised as low in fat. This may make the food appear as healthier, but large amounts of sugar are often added.
But there are those who are fighting back against sugar. Many schools are offering more fruit instead of deserts. Other schools are building facilities for students to do exercise. The battle has not yet been lost.
1.Why is sugar addictive?
A.It makes us feel good and want more of it. B.It has a strong effect on our blood.
C.Tasty foods are full of sugar. D.There is sugar in medicine.
2.According to the passage, why is it so hard to avoid sugar?
A.We like candy too much. B.It gives us needed energy.
C.It is in so many foods and drinks. D.We get used to eating it at school.
3.What is the passage mainly about?
A.Ways to avoid sugar. B.Our addiction to sugar.
C.Illnesses caused by sugar. D.Good sugar and bad sugar.
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
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The Teenage Brain
Parents, teachers, and others who deal closely with teenagers know how difficult the adolescent(青少年的) years can be. This was thought to be due to the “foolishness of youth.” Now, brain-imaging technology allows scientists to study the physical development of the brain in more details than ever before. Their discoveries have led a new theory of why teens act this way.
Recently, scientists have discovered that though our brains are almost at their full size by the age of six, they are far from fully developed. Only during adolescence do our brains truly “grow up.” During this time, they go through great changes, like a computer system being upgraded. This “upgrade” was once thought to be finished by about age 12. Now scientists have found that our brains continue to change until age 25. Such changes make us better at balancing impulses (冲动) with following rules. But a still-developing brain does this clumsily (笨拙地). The result, scientists believe, is the unpredictable behavior seen in teenagers.
The studies show that teens are more likely to take risks. Luckily, the news isn’t all bad. As brain scientist B. J. Casey points out, the teen brain inspires such behavior in order to help teens prepare for adult life.
One way the brain does this is by changing the way teens measure risk and reward (回报).
Researchers have found that when teens think about rewards, their brains release more of the chemicals that create pleasure. Researchers believe this makes the rewards seem more important than the risks, and makes teens feel the excitement of new experience.
Research into the structure of the teen brain have also found that it makes social connection seem especially rewarding. As such, teens have a strong need to meet new people. Because it is still developing, a teen brain can change to deal with new situations. So it connects social rewards with even more pleasure. In this way, the brain encourages teens to have a wide circle of friends, which is believed to make them more successful in life.
Unluckily, this need for greater rewards can sometimes lead teens to make bad decisions. However, it also means that teens are more likely, and less afraid, to try new things or to be independent. And in the long run, the impulses of the teen brain are what help teens leave their parents’ care and live their own life successfully.
1.According to Paragraph 2, what have the scientists discovered now?
A.A changing brain helps follow the rules.
B.Our brains finish upgrading by age of twelve.
C.Our brains are fully developed by the age of six.
D.A developing brain can cause unpredictable behaviors.
2.The writer probably agrees that .
A.teenagers should learn from their bad decisions
B.many teenagers are able to change their behaviors
C.the way the teen brain works makes them less afraid
D.the impulses of a teenage brain should be controlled
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A.The teen brain makes risks less exciting.
B.The impulse of teen brain can benefit teenagers.
C.Teenagers with more friends are more successful.
D.Teenagers make wrong decisions because of their brain.
难度: 困难查看答案及解析