题目内容
Some said yes , but ________ just kept silent.
- A.the other
- B.the rest
- C.a lot
- D.great number
Twenty-first century humanity has mapped oceans and mountains, visited the moon, and surveyed the planets. But for all the progress, people still don’t know one another very well.
That brings about Theodore Zeldin’s “feast of conversation”-events where individuals pair with persons they don’t know for three hours of guided talk designed to get the past “Where are you from?”
Mr. Zeldin, an Oxford University professor, heads Oxford Muse, a 10-year-old foundation based on the idea that what people need is not more information, but more inspiration and encouragement.
The “feast” in London looks not at politics or events, but at how people have felt about work, relations among the sexes, hopes and fears, enemies and authority, the shape of their lives. The “menu of conversation” includes topics like “How have your priorities(优先考虑的事) changed over the years?” Or, “What have you rebelled against the past?”
As participants gathered, Zeldin opened with a speech: that despite instant communications in a globalized age, issues of human heart remain. Many people are lonely, or in routines that discourage knowing the depth of one another. “We are trapped in shallow conversations and the whole point now is to think, which is sometimes painful,” he says. “But thinking interaction is what separates us from other species, except maybe dogs…who do have generations of human interactions.”
The main rules of the “feast”: Don’t pair with someone you know or ask questions you would not answer. The only awkward moment came when the multi-racial crowd of young adults to seniors, in sun hats, ties and dresses, looked to see whom they would be ‘intimate’ with for hours. But 15 minutes later, everyone was seated and talking, continuing full force until organizers interrupted them 180 minutes later.
“It’s encouraging to see the world is not just a place of oppression and distance from each other,” Zeldin summed up. “What we did is not ordinary, but it can’t be madder than the world already is.”
Some said they felt “liberated” to talk on sensitive topics. Thirty-something Peter, from East London, said that “it might take weeks or months to get to the level of interaction we suddenly opened up.”
【小题1】What can the “conversations” be best described as?
A.Deep and one-on-one. | B.Sensitive and mad. |
C.Instant and inspiring. | D.Ordinary and encouraging. |
A.pair freely with anyone they like |
B.have a guided talk for a set of period of time |
C.ask questions they themselves would not answer |
D.wear clothes reflecting multi-racial features. |
A.they would have physical contact | B.they would have in-depth talk |
C.they would be close friends | D.they would exchange basic information |
A.an attempt to promote thinking interaction |
B.one of the maddest activities ever conducted |
C.a try to liberate people from old-fashioned ideas |
D.an effort to give people a chance of talking freely |
In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed By an Austrian conductor decided to hold an intemational festival of music,dance and theatre in EdinBurgh. The idea was to reunite Europe after the Second World War.
At the same time, the “Fringe” appeared as a challenge to the official festival.Eight theatre groups turned up uninvited in 1947,in the Belief that everyone should have the right to perform,and they did so in a puBlic house disused for years.
Soon,groups of studentsfirstly from EdinBurgh University, and later from the universities of Oxford and CamBridge,Durham and Birmingham were making the journey to the Scottish capital each summer to perform theatre By little-known writers of plays in small church halls to the people of EdinBurgh.
Today the “Fringe”,once less recognized, has far outgrown the festival with around 1,500 performances of theatre,music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yetas early as 1959,with only 19 theatre groups performing,some said it was getting too Big.
A paid administrator was first employed only in 1971, and today there are eight administrators working all year round and the numBer rises to 150 during August itself. In 2004 there were 200 places housing 1,695 shows By over 600 different groups from 50 different countries. More than 1,25 million tickets were sold.
【小题1】Point was the purpose of EdinBurgh Festival at he Beginning?
A.To Bring Europe together again. |
B.To honor heroes of World War 11. |
C.To introduce young theatre groups. |
D.To attract great artists from Europe. |
A.They owned a puBlic house there. |
B.They came to take up a challenge. |
C.They thought they were also famous. |
D.They wanted to take part in the festival. |
A.they owned a puBlic house there |
B.University students. |
C.人rusts from around the world. |
D.Performers of music and dance. |
A.has Become a non-official event |
B.has gone Beyond an art festival |
C.gives shows all year round |
D.keeps growing rapidly |
Americans love dogs, all types of dogs: small dogs, big dogs, lapdogs (供玩赏的小狗). Each year, people spend billions of dollars on their four-legged pals, making sure the lovable dogs have enough food to eat and lots of toys to play with.
Dogs love people, too. They lick their faces, protect their homes. Where did these four-legged companions come from? Some scientists believe that they have found the answer.
Scientists have long known that dogs evolved from(演化) wolves. Exactly when the transformation from wolf to dog actually took place, however, remains a mystery.
Some said dogs evolved as a separate species 135,000 years ago in two parts of the world. One group of dogs developed in Europe and Asia from Asian wolves. The other group evolved in North, Central, and South America from American wolves.
Now researchers say those theories are wrong. New studies suggest that domesticated dogs first appeared 15,000 years ago in eastern Asia. Scientists also say that every modern dog descended from approximately five female Asian wolves, the mother of all modern dogs.
Scientists suspect dogs first set paws in North America by following settlers across a land bridge that once linked northern Asia and North America.
1.According to recent studies, all modern dogs came from female wolves in ______.
A.Asia |
B.Africa |
C.Europe |
D.South America |
2.From this story, we can conclude that _______.
A.dogs are scientists’ best friends |
B.dogs are more like wolves than they are like any other animal |
C.most dogs are from Africa |
D.scientists have no idea how dogs evolved |
3.The underlined word “domesticated” means “_______”.
A.tamed |
B.indoor |
C.intelligent |
D.friendly |
4.The best title for this story might be ______.
A.Why Cats Don’t Like Dogs |
B.Barking up the Wrong Tree |
C.Love Me, Love My Dog |
D.Going from Wolf to Dog |