In 1947 a group of famous people from the art world headed by an Austrian conductor decided to hold an international festival of music,dance and theater 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 theater 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 students firstly 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 theater 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 theater,music and dance on every one of the 21 days it lasts. And yet as early as 1959,with only 19 theater 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.

1.What 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 theater groups.

D. To attract great artists from Europe.

2.Why did some uninvited theater groups come to Edinburgh in 1947?

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.

3.Who joined the "Fringe" after it appeared?

A. Popular writers.

B. University students.

C.Artists from around the world.

D. Performers of music and dance.

4.We may learn from the text that Edinburgh Festival___.

A. has become a non-official event

B. has gone beyond an art festival

C. gives shows all year round

D. keeps growing rapidly

Sports can help you keep fit and get in touch with nature. However, whether you are on the mountains, in the waves, or on the grassland, you should be aware that your sport of choice might have great influence on the environment.

Some sports are resource-hungry. Golf, as you may know, eats up not only large areas of countryside, but also tons of water. Besides, all sorts of chemicals and huge amounts of energy are used to keep its courses (球场) in good condition. This causes major environmental effects. For example, in the dry regions of Portugal and Spain, golf is often held responsible for serious water shortage in some local areas.

There are many environment-friendly sport. Power walking is one of them that you could take up today. You don’t need any special equipment except a good pair of shoes; and you don’t have to worry about resources and your purse. Simple and free, power walking can also keep you fit. If you walk regularly, it will be good for your heart and bones. Experts say that 20 minutes of power walking daily can make you feel less anxious, sleep well and have better weight control.

Whatever sport you take up, you can make it greener by using environment-friendly equipment and buying products made from recycled materials. But the final goal should be “green gyms”. They are better replacements for traditional health clubs and modern sports centers. Members of green gyms play sports outdoors, in the countryside or other open spaces. There is no special requirement for you to start your membership. And best of all, it’s free.

1. Which of the following is the author most probably in favor of?

A. Cycling around a lake.

B. Motor racing in the desert.

C. Playing basketball in a gym.

D. Swimming in a sports center.

2.What do we know about golf from the passage?

A. It is popular in Portugal and Spain.

B. It causes water shortages around the world.

C. It pollutes the earth with chemicals and wastes.

D. It needs water and electricity to keep its courses green.

3.The author uses power walking as an example mainly because ___________.

A. it is an outdoor sport

B. it improves our health

C. it uses fewer resources

D. it is recommended by experts

4.The author writes the passage to ____________.

A. show us the function of major sports

B. encourage us to go in for green sports

C. discuss the major influence of popular sports

D. introduce different types of environment-friendly sports

Eat like a king in the morning, a prince at noon, and a peasant at night. This saying is all about the importance of breakfast. And now scientists can tell us just why it’s so important. According to a study carried out at Imperial College London, UK, skipping the first meal of the day not only means you eat more at lunch, but also that your brain wants to find more unhealthy foods.

The study suggests that there is a special part of our brain called the orbitofrontal cortex (眶额皮层), which plays an important part in making choices about what we eat. It is used for identifying the taste of food, especially when skipping breakfast. It is more likely to target high-calorie foods when you’re on an empty stomach.

Scientists did an experiment on this. Dr Tony Goldstone from Imperial College London, scanned (扫描) the brains of 21 men and women, around the age of 25. On the first day, these people skipped breakfast before the scans. On the second day, they had cereal (谷物), bread and jam as breakfast. After the scan on both days, they had their lunch.

When the volunteers had skipped breakfast, they ate around 20 percent more at lunch, compared with days when they had eaten breakfast. Their brain scans also showed the orbitofrontal cortex was especially responsive to high-calorie foods. “We believe that bit identifies the value of foods – how pleasant, how delicious something is,” Goldstone told The Guardian.

1.From Paragraph 1, we learn that _____.

A. scientists found out why eating breakfast is important

B. it’s easy to lose weight without breakfast

C. there’s no need to have good food for supper

D. eating breakfast makes your brain smarter

2.Which is the correct order for the experiment on the first day?

① The volunteers skipped breakfast.

② The volunteers had lunch.

③ The volunteers had a brain scan.

A.①②③ B.③②① C.①③② D.③①②

3.Which of the following is NOT true about the orbitofrontal cortex?

A. It is part of our brain.

B. It tells people to eat breakfast.

C. It decides which food we like.

D. It is active toward high-calorie foods.

4.Which of the following can be the title for this passage?

A. Breakfast still most important

B. Three meals a day

C. Experiments on breakfast

D. Researches on lunch

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、 B、 C和D)中。选出最佳选项。

Doctors are known to be terrible pilots.They don't listen because they already know it all.I was lucky: I became a pilot in 1970, almost ten years before I graduated from medical school.I didn’t realize then, but becoming a pilot makes me a better surgeon.I loved flying.As I flew bigger, faster planes, and in worse weather, I learned about crew resource management (机组资源管理),or CRM, a new idea to make flying safer.It means that crew members should listen and speak up for a good result, regardless of positions.

I first read about CRM in 1980.Not long after that, an attending doctor and I were flying in bad weather.The controller had us turn too late to get our landing ready.The attending doctor was flying; I was safety pilot, He was so busy because of the bad turn, he had forgotten to put the landing gear (起落架)down.He was a better pilot—and my boss—so it felt unusual to speak up.But I had to: Our lives were in danger.I put aside my uneasiness and said, “We need to put the landing gear down now!” That was my first real lesson in the power of CRM, and I’ve used it in the operating room ever since.

CRM requires that the pilot/surgeon encourage others to speak up.It further requires that when opinions are from the opposite, the doctor doesn't overreact, which might prevent fellow doctors from voicing opinions again.So when I'm in the operating room, I ask for ideas and help from others.Sometimes they’re not willing to speak up.But I hope that if I continue to encourage them, someday someone will keep me from "landing gear up".

1.What does the author say about doctors in general?

A.They like flying by themselves.

B.They are unwilling to take advice.

C.They pretend to be good pilots.

D.They are quick learners of CRM.

2.The author deepened his understanding of the power of CRM when _______.

A.he saved the plane by speaking up

B.he was in charge of a flying task

C.his boss landed the plane too late

D.his boss operated on a patient

3.In the last paragraph “landing gear up” probably means _______.

A.following flying requirements

B.overreacting to different opinions

C.listening to what fellow doctors say

D.making a mistake that may cost lives

4.Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A.CRM: A New Way to Make Flying Safe

B.Flying Makes Me a Better Doctor

C.The Making of a Good Pilot

D.A Pilot-Turned Doctor

The kids in a village in Ethiopia wear dirty, ragged clothes. They sleep beside cows and sheep in huts made of sticks and mud. They have no school. Yet they all can chant the English alphabet, and some can make words.

The key to their success: 20 tablet computers(平板电脑) dropped off in their Ethiopian village in February by a U.S. group called One Laptop Per Child.

The goal is to find out whether kids using today’s new technology can teach themselves to read in places where there are no schools or teachers. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers analyzing the project data say they’re already amazed. “What I think has already happened is that the kids have already learned more than they would have in one year of kindergarten,” said Matt Keller, who runs the Ethiopia program.

The fastest learner—and the first to turn on one of the tablets—is 8-year-old Kelbesa Negusse. The device’s camera was disabled to save memory, yet within weeks Kelbesa had figured out its workings and made the camera work. He called himself a lion, a marker of accomplishment in Ethiopia.

With his tablet, Kelbasa rearranged the letters HSROE into one of the many English animal names he knows. Then he spelled words on his own. “Seven months ago he didn’t know any English. That’s unbelievable,” said Keller.

The project aims to get kids to a stage called “deep reading,” where they can read to learn. It won’t be in Amharic, Ethiopia’s first language, but in English, which is widely seen as the ticket to higher paying jobs.

1.How does the Ethiopia program benefit the kids in the village?

A. It trains teachers for them.

B. It helps their self-study.

C. It raises their living standards.

D. It provides funds for building schools.

2.What can we infer from Keller's words in Paragraph 3?

A. They need more time to analyze data.

B. More children are needed for the research.

C. He is confident about the future of the project.

D. The research should be carried out in kindergartens.

3.What is the aim of the project?

A. To offer Ethiopians higher paying jobs.

B. To make Amharic widely used in the world.

C. To assist Ethiopians in learning their first language.

D. To help Ethiopian kids read to learn in English.

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