No opera smells of the sea quite like Britten...

No opera smells of the sea quite like Britten’s Peter Grimes. The music makes us constantly aware of the sea’s immensity, it’s potential for threat, and the play of light on its waves. But the sea isn’t just a special background, it weighs on the lives of the characters, offering them a living, but at a price. In the first act the laboured sound of the strings evokes (引起) the complete heaviness of the sailor’s work, as they haul(用力拉) the boats up the shingle (鹅卵石). Then a storm gathers which rages(肆虐) through the scene at the Inn, and stirs up an orchestral hurricane. Even when it’s calm and favorable, the sea is inescapable.

In the comfortable enclosed world of the opera house, this can only be suggested. In the production of Peter Grimes about to open at the Aldeburgh Festival, it will be really present, because the opera is taking place on the beach, the setting for much of the narrative of Britten’s opera, and also the poem by the Suffolk poet George Crabbe that inspired it.

This won’t be the first opera production to be set in the actual landscape in which the action takes place. There’s a well-known filmed production of Tosca shot in Castel Gandolfo in Rome, and a production of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena was once mounted in the moat(护城河) surrounding the Tower of London. But those were manageable urban landscapes, with comfortingly solid buildings to act as wind shields and acoustic blocks.

On the Aldeburgh beach there’s actually nothing, apart from a few boats, some whole, some wrecked. Here anything more complicated than walking the dog is hard to solve. The wind blows away one’s words, so conversation is hard, and anything not tied down tends to blow away. The sliding shingle turns one’s steps into a drunken stagger.

The idea of performing an opera in these conditions seems quite barmy — an accusation Aldeburgh director Jonathan Reakie takes cheerfully on the chin. Why has he done it? “Well, Grimes is the opera of Britten’s that’s most associated with Aldeburgh, but it’s never been produced at the Festival which he founded. There just isn’t the space for it. In his anniversary year we wanted to focus on Britten’s connection with Suffolk, and this seemed the boldest way to do it.”

Having had the mad idea, Reakie found his colleagues were not just accepting, but enthusiastic. “We spent a long time thinking about ways to do it. One idea we had was to do all the scenes at the right time of day. There’s one scene at dawn, another at midday, and a lot of action at night, but that was too complicated. Then we thought about doing a few scenes on the beach. But in the end, we thought hell, let’s just do the whole thing.”

1.Which of the following can best describe the sailor’s work in the first act?

A. Pleasant.        B. Hard.

C. Comfortable.        D. Attractive.

2.How is Paragraph 2 mainly developed?

A. By giving descriptions.            B. By following time order.

C. By analyzing causes.                D. By making comparisons.

3.What does Paragraph 4 mainly tell us?

A. The benefits of the actual landscape.

B. The actual landscape of Aldeburgh beach.

C. The location of the Aldeburgh beach.

D. The hardship of performing opera in Aldeburgh beach.

4.The underlined word “barmy” (in Paragraph 5) is closest in meaning to ____.

A. crazy　　         B. impossible

C. wonderful    D. terrible

5.Reakie’s partners’ attitude towards his opera on a beach is ____.

A. eager            B. cautious

C. doubtful            D. unfavorable

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

There's no place in the world like Venice, Italy. Situated in the Adratic Sea, the city of Water is made up of 118 tiny islands. However, it1. (be) in danger of sinking now. Because2.city was built on soft soil, it has been sinking under the pressure of its own weight. Scientists say that Venice sinks 3. a rate of nearly two inches every 100 years. Meanwhile, rising sea levels could make Venice go under even faster. Earth's temperature is slowly increasing, 4. is causing sea ice to melt and makes the world's waters rise.

Experts5.(rush) to save Venice now because of its rich culture. “Many famous artists and opera singers have come from Venice. Some of the world's greatest 6.(paint) can be found on the city's museum walls," explains Melissa Conn.

7. (keep) the city afloat, experts want to pump about 40 billion gallons of sea water beneath Venice. While scientists work to get their plan 8. (approve), people in Venice live their normal life. When the tide rolls in the locals have ways of keeping everyone dry. Café owners move tables to 9. (high) ground, and hotels pass out high boots to guests. 10.(fortune), dealing with the rising water does not make the natives discouraged.

高三英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

I came home one day recently and, for reasons I don’t quite understand, my living room smelled like my grandmother’s house. Suddenly I felt as if I were 12 years old, happy and relaxed, sitting in her kitchen. I can remember what her house looked like, though it was sold 20 years ago – her three-level plant stand, the plates lining the walls, the window over her sink – but these visual memories don’t have the power that smell does. The funny thing is, I can’t even begin to describe the odor(气味) that was so distinctively hers. The best I can do is this: “It smelled like my grandmother’s house.”

It’s a common experience, and a common linguistic( 语言学的) problem. In cultures worldwide, people have powerful olfactory memories. This odor-memory link is also called “the Proust phenomenon,” after Marcel Proust’s famous description of the feelings aroused by a cake dipped in tea in “Remembrance of Things Past.”

Olfactory memories seem to be more closely bound up with emotions than are visual or auditory ones.

Not all these memories are pleasant, of course, and smells can also trigger feelings of pain.

It is surprisingly hard for English-speakers to describe the odors that occasion such strong emotions, however. English possesses almost no abstract smell words that pick out links or themes among unrelated aromas(芳香).

We have plenty of these in the visual field. “Yellow,” for example, identifies a characteristic that bananas, lemons, some cars, some flowers, old book pages, and the sun all share.

But for odors, we don’t have many more than the vague “musty” (smells old and stale) and “musky” (smells perfumey). We usually have no choice but to say that one thing smells like another – like a banana, like garlic, like diesel fuel.

A few languages, though, do have a rich odor vocabulary. Linguist Asifa Majid has found that the Jahai, the Semaq Beri, and the Maniq, hunter-gatherer groups in Malaysia and Thailand, employ a wide range of abstract smell words and can identify aromas as easily as we can colors. The Jahai have a word, for example, that describes “the seemingly dissimilar smell of petrol, smoke, bat poop, root of wild ginger and wood of wild mango.”

Last year my cat got sprayed by a skunk(臭鼬), and the vet told me to wash its face with coffee to cover the bad smell. Until then, I had never realized that coffee, which I find delicious, smells remarkably like skunk spray, which I do not.

Science has identified the chemicals that both share. They are called mercaptans (硫醇). But in oral English, we have no word for the underlying note that connects these two odors. If the Jahai drank coffee and encountered skunks, I bet they would.

1.The opening paragraph is mainly intended to　 .

A.express the writer’s affection for his grandmother

B.direct the readers’ attention to a linguistic problem

C.tell us the odor of the grandmother’s house stayed the same

D.prove smell has a greater power than visual memories

2.Which of the following is related to olfactory memories?

A.Forming an image in mind after seeing the word “injury”.

B.Feeling sympathetic when seeing a sick cat.

C.Dancing to the music upon hearing it played.

D.Missing fried eggs with garlic cooked by mum.

3.The example of the Jahai suggests that　 .

A.the Jahai don’t have many words in the visual field

B.English possesses many vague words like “musty” and “musky”

C.the Jahai has more abstract smell words than English

D.skunk and coffee have the same smell, but different functions

4.What can we learn from the passage?

A.The author feels pity about the limitation of his language.

B.English has a wide range of visual and odor vocabulary.

C.Olfactory memories can bring nothing but pleasant feelings.

D.Cultures worldwide always collide with each other.

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

—Chris, how about going to a seafood restaurant?

—　　　　　 ! I told you I don't like the smell of fish．

A．Whatever　　     B．Not again　　　　     C．You bet    D．No wonder

高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

—Chris, how about going to a seafood restaurant?

—　　　　　 ! I told you I don't like the smell of fish．

A．Whatever　　 B．Not again

C．You bet 　　 D．No wonder

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

No fashion event captivates the world quite like the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. In November 2017, more than 55 models descended upon Shanghai for the lingerie (内衣) maker’s first show in Asia. Victoria’s Secret cast eight Chinese models for the show, including Liu Wen, double the number that walked in 2016.

Liu Wen, a Chinese fashion model, started her modeline career in 2005 after competing in the reality TV show New Silk Road World Model Contest. Although she did not win the competition, Liu soon began working full-time as a model, eventually becoming a national success story after working with fashion magazines like Vogue and Harper’s Bazaar that are popular in China, In 2007, she was signed to the Marilyn agency, and has since walked for Burberry, Givenchy, Chanel, Tom Ford, Proenza Schooler and Tommy Hilfiger.

Liu walked a record 74 shows in New York, London, Milan and Paris for the autumn/winter 2009 season, followed by 70 for spring/summer 2010, making her the second most-booked catwalk model that year. She has also notched up 15 international Vogue covers to date.

In 2009, Liu became the first woman of Chinese descent to walk in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. Liu also participated in the 2010-2012 shows. She returned to the Victoria’s Secret runway again in 2016.

In the past, Liu has said that after modeling she might enjoy working as a stylist or, were the opportunity to arise, as an actress — she feels that modeling and acting have much in common, but for now she enjoys modeling and working in the fashion industry. She has stated that she knows that, as a career choice, working as a fashion designer or stylist would be “very hard work”, but she is now more seriously considering becoming a stylist because she would like “to share her fashion style — tomboyish, vintage, and comfortable— with the world”.

1.How many times has Liu appeared in Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show?

A. 4.　　 B. 5.

C. 6.　　 D. 7.

2.Which statement is not true?

A. Liu created a record of 15 international Vogue covers.

B. Liu walked 70 shows for the autumn/winter 2010 season.

C. Liu returned to the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show again in 2016.

D. Liu didn’t win the New Silk Road World Model Contest in 2005.

3.According to the passage, Liu Wen is 　　　　 .

A. beautiful and patient　　 B. successful and kind

C. determined and smart　　 D. hardworking and ambitious

4.Where can we most probably find this passage?

A. In a poster.　　 B. In a magazine.

C. In a fashion show.　　 D. In a book review.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The ninth week of SEAL(Sea, Air, Land) training is referred to as Hell Week. It is six days of no sleep, physical and mental suffering and one special day at the Mud Flats (泥沼）where you will sink into the mud.

It is on Wednesday of Hell Week that we came down to the mud flats and spend the next 15 hours trying to survive the freezing-cold mud, the cold wind and the strong pressure from the instructors to give up.

As the sun began to set that Wednesday evening, my training class, having broken some of the rules, was ordered into the mud. We sank into the mud until only our heads could be seen. The instructors told us we could leave the mud if only five men would give up—just five men and we could get out of the cold.

Looking around the mud flat, it was clear that some of us were about to give up. It was still over eight hours till the sun came up--eight more hours of coldness. Our cries were so loud that it was hard to hear anything. And then, one voice began to fly through the night--one voice raised in song.

The song sounded terrible, but it was sung with great power. One voice became two, and two became three, and before long everyone in the class was singing.

We knew that if one man could rise above the suffering then others could as well. The instructors warned us of more time in the mud if we kept up the singing—but the singing went on and on. And somehow, the mud seemed a little warmer, the wind a little weaker and the morning not so far away.

If I have learned anything in my time traveling the world, it is the power of hope. The power can change the world by giving people hope.

So, if you want to change the world, start singing when you're up to your neck in mud.

1.What did the writer experience during Hell Week?

A. He suffered sleeplessness for one day.

B. He was physically and mentally crazy.

C. He went through some hard tests.

D. He sank into the mud for the week.

2.Why did the class have the experience at the Mud Flat?

A. Because it was one of the training courses.

B. Because the weather was terribly bad.

C. Because the instructors were strict with them.

D. Because they wanted to break the rules.

3.What did the class do when they were in the mud?

A. Five of them gave up.

B. They cried all the time.

C. Someone sang from the beginning.

D. Everybody joined in the singing.

4.What is probably the author’s job?

A. A terrorist.

B. A soldier.

C. An instructor.

D. A trainer.

5.What does the writer want to tell us?

A. Singing helps change the world.

B. Singing solves problems in life.

C. People should help each other.

D. Hope helps pull through difficulties.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

一How do you like the book?

一Wonderful, and I as well as most of my classmates＿＿＿quite interested in it.

A. are 　　　 B. were

C. has been D. am

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

That the Leaning Tower of Pisa no longer leans quite so much after a ￡20 million project to save it has proved to be a great success.The tower, which was on the edge of collapse, has been straightened by 18 inches, returning it to its 1838 position.

“It has straightened a little bit more than we expected, but very little helps, ”said Prof.John Burland, the only British member of the rescue committee.“The tower is still very slightly moving towards being upright. ”

The tower, which has been leaning almost since building work first began in 1173, was closed to the public in 1990 because of safety fears.The 183foot tower was nearly 15 feet off vertical and its structure was found to have been weakened by centuries of strain(作用力).

Prof.Burland said it could have collapsed “at any moment”．However, it took nine years of quarreling before any work was done.The last attempt at straightening the tower was carried out. Concrete was poured into the foundations, but the result was that the tower sank further into the soil.

The straightening work involved digging out around 70 tonnes of earth from the northern side of the tower, causing it to sink on that side.Before the digging started, the tower was fixed with steel ropes and 600 tonnes of lead weights.

However, halfway through the project, concerns at the ugliness of the weights led to their removal and the tower leaned greatly.The weights were hurriedly reattached. In one night, the tower moved more than it had averaged in an entire year.The tower's stonework has also been restored.

The Italian government stepped in after a tower collapsed in Pavia in 1989, killing four people.Experts suddenly realized that the tower at Pisa, which was similarly built and on the same sort of earth, could do the same.

1.What would be the best title for the passage?

A．The Building of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

B．Saving the Leaning Tower of Pisa

C．The Collapse of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

D．The History of the Leaning Tower of Pisa

2.According to the passage, the Leaning Tower of Pisa_________________.

A．closed for the straightening work in 1990

B．began to lean more than 800 years ago

C．has a history of more than 1, 000 years

D．has become vertical

3.What drove the Italian government to save the Leaning Tower of Pisa?

A．The development of new technology.

B．The advice of Prof. John Burland.

C．The expectation of the rescue committee.

D．The collapse of a tower in Pavia.

4.What most probably played the most important part in straightening the tower?

A．The lead weights fixed to the tower.

B．Restoring the stonework.

C．Pouring concrete into the foundations.

D．Digging earth from the southern side of the tower.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Because of health problems, Peter cannot continue to work at the same full pace 　　 he has done up to now.

A. as　　 B. which

C. when　　 D. where

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析