Every January, Breckenridge hosts the International Show Sculpture Championships Fourteen teams travel from all over the world to Swizerland to compete. Teams sculpt for sixty-five hours over five days. Each team hopes that when the time is up, its sculpture will be judged the best.

As the championship begins, the fourteen teams are faced with huge blocks of snow that weigh twenty tons each. The sculptors bring out their favorite tools that work best on the hard iced snow, but they are not allowed to employ tools that use electricity.

Most teams are inspired by what they have seem in daily life. For example, one team carved a teapot with tea pouring out. Another team sculpted a little cat on its hind feed(后脚)reaching into a fish bowl complete with water ripples(涟漪)and a crab(螃蟹) trying to attack the cat. In 2006, Team USA sculpted a golden dog looking at its image reflected in a mirror. To create the effect that the little dog saw its reflection in the glass, the artists carved two dogs facing each other with their paw (脚爪)touching.

As the final hours of the competition tick by, exhausted team members add last-minute details. They use small brooms to brush off snow caught in tiny holes. One team member counts down the last five minutes while others are busy cleaning up the tools. If they leave any tools behind, they will be out. When the whistle blows, everyone must step away from the sculpture. The judges the vote on creativity, technical skill, and visual impact(视觉效果) of the designs.

In 2006, Team USA took firs place for their golden dog sculpture titled “Discovery”. But the competition is not just about medals and ribbon.” It’s not about the prize,” said Rob Neyland, Team USA’s captain.” It’s about touching the audience.”

Every year, as the championship ends, each team is already dreaming of the next masterpiece it will desigh.

73. What kind of tools are the sculptures Not permitted to use? (回答词数不超过6个)

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74. What gives the sculptors ideas for their creative work? (回答词数不超过9个)

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75. Why did Team USA win the competition in 2006? (回答词数不超过15个)

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51---------
Successful people are nicer to those who are jealous of them, psychologists have found.
   The fear that they may become the target of malicious(恶意的)envy makes people act more helpfully toward people who they think might be jealous of them.
   Previous research found jealousy could be divided into benign and malicious envy. Those with benign envy were motivated to improve themselves, to do better so they could be more like the person they envied.52-------- The Dutch researchers then set out to question the effect on the target of the envy.
In lab experiments a group of people were made to feel like they would be maliciously envied by being told they would receive an award of five euros(欧元)53-------The researchers thought that the deserved prize would lead to benign envy, while the undeserved prize would lead to malicious envy.
   Then the volunteer was asked to give time-consuming advice to a potentially envious person.People who had reason to think they would be the target of malicious envy were more likely to take the time to give advice than targets of benign envy.
   In another experiment, an experimenter dropped a number of erasers on the floor as the volunteer was leaving.54-------- He said: 'This sort of serves a useful group function. We all think better-off people should share with others but that's not something we are inclined to do when we are better off..55----------  

A.Those who thought they would be maliciously envied were more likely to help him pick them up.
B.Helping others is a virtue.
C.However those with malicious envy wanted tobringthe more successful persondown.
D.Malicious envy. is terrible.
E. This fear of envy can encourage us to behave in ways that improve the social interactions of the group.'
  F. People are more likely to help others if they think they are envious of them.
G.. Sometimes the prize was deserved and was based on the score they were told they had earned on a quiz. But sometimes it was not based on their score at all.

Gwendolyn Brooks wrote hundreds of poems during her lifetime. She was known around the world for using poetry to increase understanding of black culture in America.

During the 1940’s and the 1950’s, Gwendolyn Brooks used her poems to describe conditions among the poor, racial (种族的) inequality and drug use in the black community. She also wrote poems about the struggles of black women.

But her skill was more than her ability to write about struggling black people. She combined traditional European poetry styles with the African American experience.

Gwendolyn Brooks once said that she wrote about what she saw and heard in the street. She said she found most of her materials through looking out of the window of her second-floor apartment in Chicago, Illinois.

In her early poetry, Gwendolyn Brooks wrote about the South Side of Chicago, where many black people live. In her poems, the South Side is called Bronzeville. It was “A Street in Bronzeville” that gained the attention of literary experts in 1945. Critics praised her poetic skills and her powerful descriptions about the black experience during the time. The Bronzeville poems were her first published collection.

In 1950, Gwendolyn Brooks became the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Literature. She won the prize for her second book of poems called “Annie Allen”. “Annie Allen” is a collection of poetry about a Bronzeville girl as a daughter, a wife and a mother. She experiences loneliness, loss, death and poverty (贫穷).

Gwendolyn Brooks said that winning the prize changed her life.

Her next work was a novel written in 1953 called “Maud Martha”. “Maud Martha” attracted little attention when it was first published. But now it is considered an important work by some critics. Its main ideas about the difficult lives of many women are popular among female writers today.                                                      

1.Gwendolyn Brooks became world-famous because     .

A.she was an expert on the language of poetry

B.she introduced black culture by writing poems

C.she fought for black rights by writing poems

D.her poems showed the lives of black women

2.Which of the following can we learn from the text?

A.Gwendolyn Brooks’ poems focused on black people in Africa.

B.Winning the Pulitzer Prize for Literature was important to Brooks.

C.Gwendolyn Brooks used to suffer a lot from drugs.

D.Gwendolyn Brooks was very strict with herself.

3.How did Gwendolyn Brooks get ideas for most of her poems?

A.By observing life.                       B.By having talks.

C.By reading widely.                       D.By traveling.

4.We can infer that the book “Annie Allen” mainly deals with      .

A.family life         B.inequality         C.adventure         D.failure

 

The next long vacation might be still months away, but it’s never too early to tailor a good travel plan.

Planning ahead with discount air tickets and hotel booking sites may bring you the prize of an overseas adventure. Here, 21st Century offers some tips on how to plan a cheap, creative travel route.

Book a budget flight

 1.  Discount airlines tend to increase their fare as the plane fills up and early reservations are usually rewarded with the lowest fares.

Most major domestic airlines offer discount tickets for off-peak travel. China Southern Airlines now provides favorable group purchase ticket deals to attract tourists to cities like Hong Kong and Guilin.   2. 

Another way is to search for a cheap ticket on the websites of low-cost airlines, which offer you very low fares though less comfort.

The budget airline has a long history in the West. It’s also called a no-frills carrier(经济型航班)for doing away with traditional free services, such as food and drinks. They charge you extra for catering on board, or securing a seat.   3. 

Popular airline routes

Air Asia: The Malaysian-based airline flies form seven cities in China including Tianjin, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Chongqing, Hangzhou, Guilin and Shenzhen in the Chinese mainland, and provides trips to cities such as Paris and London.   4.  Many tickets are priced under 1500 yuan.

Southwest Airlines: If you go traveling in the US you can take this low-cost airline based in Texas.

Find a cheap 5-star service hotel

 5.  It’s a great idea to look for YHA(Youth Hostels Associa-tion)backpackers, or Bed & Breakfast deals online.

A.It can transfer you to most South East Asian countries.

B.So you have to read more discount information before boarding.

C.The key to getting any good-priced plane ticket is to reserve the flight early.

D.So it’s wiser to take hand luggage because many budget airlines put a fee on checked in luggage.

E. Air China and Beijing Capital Airlines offer tickets with as much as 75 to 80 percent discounts.

F. Like airline tickets, the price for a budget hotel depends on when you book it: the earlier, the cheaper.

G. Get your holiday off to a flying start by booking a cheap flight to hundreds of destinations ebookers offers.

 

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